49
2
March
445
456
10.1111/j.1475-4983.2006.00540.x
DE FIGUEIREDO, F. J., GALLO, V. 2006. A new dercetid fish (Neoteleostei: Aulopiformes) from the Turonian of the Pelotas Basin, southern Brazil. Palaeontology, 49, 2, 445–456.
Francisco J. de Figueiredo and Valéria Gallo Dercetid fishes are common in Tethyan marine deposits of Europe, Asia and Africa. In this paper, we describe a South American dercetid fish, Brazilodercetis longirostris gen. et sp. nov., based on juvenile and adult specimens found in core samples at c. 4000 m sediment depth in the Atlantida Formation (Pelotas Basin, southern Brazil). Brazilodercetis longirostris is a slender, elongate fish recognized on the basis of the following features: prominent snout; contact between mesethmoid and frontals very anterior to the orbit; mesethmoid separating the premaxillae for half of their length; juvenile specimens bearing wedge-like teeth on the anterior third of maxilla; long and shallow crest crossing epioccipital, parietal and posterior border of frontal; a pipe-like preopercle; and reduced neural spine at the middle point of neural arch. Brazilodercetis shares a number of features with the other dercetids, including a pointed snout that is longer than the lower jaw (with Rhynchodercetis and Hastichthys), a medioparietal skull roof (with Cyranichthys and Benthesikyme), an unroofed posttemporal fossa (with Dercetoides, Rhynchodercetis and Pelargorhynchus), a flange on the anguloarticular (with Dercetoides, Hastichthys, Rhynchodercetis and Cyranichthys), untoothed premaxillae (with Hastichthys and probably Rhynchodercetis), and a single row of teeth on the maxillae (with Dercetis, Benthesikyme, Rhynchodercetis, Pelargorhynchus, Dercetoides and Hastichthys). Wiley Online Library