''Belonostomus'' (from el, βέλος , 'dart' and el, στόμα 'mouth') is a genus of prehistoric

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or hor ...

that was described by

Louis Agassiz Jean Louis Rodolphe Agassiz ( ; ) FRS (For) FRSE (May 28, 1807 – December 14, 1873) was a Swiss-born American biologist and geologist who is recognized as a scholar of Earth's natural history. Spending his early life in Switzerland, he rec ...

in 1844. It is a member of the order

Aspidorhynchiformes Aspidorhynchiformes (from New Latin "shield-snout forms") is an extinct order of ray-finned fish. It contains only a single family, the Aspidorhynchidae. Members of the group are noted for their elongated, conical rostrums, of varying length, fo ...

, a group of fish known for their distinctive elongated rostrums. The oldest known species are from the Upper Jurassic of Germany, with the youngest known species from the late

Paleocene The Paleocene, ( ) or Palaeocene, is a geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from about 66 to 56 mya (unit), million years ago (mya). It is the first epoch of the Paleogene Period (geology), Period in the modern Cenozoic Era (geology), E ...

. Fossils of ''Belonostmus'' have been found worldwide in marine deposits. It likely consumed plankton or other small fish. ''Belonostomus'' species include: *''Belonostomus kochii'' *''Belonostomus acutus'' *''Belonostomus carinatus'' *''Belonostomus crassirostris'' *''Belonostomus indicus'' *''Belonostomus longirostris'' *''Belonostomus münsteri'' *''Belonostomus tenuirostris'' Belonostomus tenuirostris Ob Jura Painten D Ch2

Belonostomus tenuirostris Ob Jura Painten D Ch2

References

''Belonostomus''
Paleobiology Database Prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Cretaceous fish of Africa Cretaceous fish of Asia Fossils of Uzbekistan Bissekty Formation Prehistoric fish of Australia Prehistoric fish of South America Cretaceous animals of South America Cretaceous Brazil Fossils of Brazil Crato Formation Fossil taxa described in 1834 Taxa named by Louis Agassiz {{Cretaceous-fish-stub