''Aethalionopsis'' is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater

bony fish Osteichthyes (), popularly referred to as the bony fish, is a diverse superclass of fish that have skeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondrichthyes, which have skeletons primarily composed of cartilag ...

from the

Early Cretaceous The Early Cretaceous ( geochronological name) or the Lower Cretaceous (chronostratigraphic name), is the earlier or lower of the two major divisions of the Cretaceous. It is usually considered to stretch from 145 Ma to 100.5 Ma. Geology Pro ...

( Barremian to early

Aptian The Aptian is an age in the geologic timescale or a stage in the stratigraphic column. It is a subdivision of the Early or Lower Cretaceous Epoch or Series and encompasses the time from 121.4 ± 1.0 Ma to 113.0 ± 1.0 Ma (million years ago), a ...

, with possible earlier or later occurrences) of western Europe. Formerly classified as a species of the

elopiform The Elopiformes are the order of ray-finned fish including the tarpons, tenpounders, and ladyfish, as well as a number of extinct types. They have a long fossil record, easily distinguished from other fishes by the presence of an additional s ...

'' Anaethalion'', it is now known to be a relative of the modern milkfish (''Chanos'') in order

Gonorhynchiformes The Gonorynchiformes are an order (biology), order of Actinopterygii, ray-finned fish that includes the important food source, the milkfish (''Chanos chanos'', family Chanidae), and a number of lesser-known types, both ocean, marine and freshwat ...

. It was previously placed as a basal member of the suborder Chanoidei, but is now more often placed as a basal member of the subfamily Chaninae of the family

Chanidae Chanidae is a family of fishes which has a number of fossil genera and one monotypic extant genus which contains the milkfish (''Chanos chanos''). Taxonomy The family Chanidae is subdivided into two subfamilies, the Rubiesichthyinae, which comp ...

, placing it closer to the extant ''Chanos''. Only a single species is presently accepted, ''A. robustus'' from the famous '' Iguanodon'' dinosaur locality of the

Sainte-Barbe Clays Formation The Sainte-Barbe Clays Formation is a geological formation in Belgium. It is found in localised areas of the northern margin of the Mons Basin, alongside the equivalently aged Hautrage and Baudour Clay Formations. It is Upper Barremian-Lower Aptian ...

in Bernissart, Belgium. However, potential localities are also known from the Berriasian- Hauterivian of

Sussex Sussex (), from the Old English (), is a historic county in South East England that was formerly an independent medieval Anglo-Saxon kingdom. It is bounded to the west by Hampshire, north by Surrey, northeast by Kent, south by the English ...

, England (classified in the genus ''Anaethalion'' as ''A. valdensis''), and the Aptian- Albian of southern Italy (possibly an undescribed species). However, more recent studies have only accepted and commented on ''A. robustus'', with no mention of these other occurrences.

References

Monotypic prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Chanidae Fossils of Belgium Early Cretaceous fish of Europe Fossil taxa described in 1966 {{paleo-rayfinned-fish-stub

See also

References