Article: A new enchodontid fish genus from the upper Cenomanian of Jerusalem, Israel

Parenchodus longipterygius n. g. et sp. belonging to the Enchodontidae is described on the basis of eight specimens. These were found in platy limestones of the late Cenomanian Kefar Shaul Formation, in the vicinity of Jerusalem, Israel. The species is characterized by a short, high body, a fenestra-less premaxilla, and by the long and narrow postcleithrum reaching the ventral margin of the belly. Other characteristics are the axial skeleton with thirty vertebrae, of which only seven are abdominal; dorsal and anal fins with long bases; a ventral, well-developed pectoral fin; a naked body, devoid of scales except for two dorsal postoccipital and three lateral scutes at the base of the tail; and with a reduction and fusion of the endoskeletal elements of the caudal fin. The fish was a small, fast swimming predator. The structure of the head, the absence of scales, and the fusion of the caudal fin elements suggest that this genus is related to Enchodus.