''Coccodus'' is an extinct genus of

extinct Extinction is the termination of a kind of organism or of a group of kinds (taxon), usually a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the species, although the capacity to breed and ...

pycnodontid Pycnodontidae is an extinct family of ray-finned fishes, ranging from the Triassic period until the Eocene. Genera * ''Acrotemnus'' Agassiz, 1843 * ''Anomoeodus'' Forir, 1887 * ''Athrodon'' Sauvage, 1880 * ''Callodus'' Thurmond, 1974 * ''Coccodu ...

fish that lived during the lower

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the ICS' geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age of the Late Cretaceous Epoch or the lowest stage of the Upper Cretaceous Series. An age is a unit of geochronology; it is a unit of time; the stage is a unit in the s ...

. The various species had a pair of massive, curved spines emanating from the lower sides of the head, and one curved spine on the top of its head. Unlike most pycnodontids (which tend to have short, marine

butterflyfish The butterflyfish are a group of conspicuous tropical marine fish of the family Chaetodontidae; the bannerfish and coralfish are also included in this group. The approximately 129 species in 12 genera are found mostly on the reefs of the Atlant ...

-like bodies), ''Coccodus'' species had a comparatively long body, giving the living animals a superficial resemblance to a scaly

chimaera Chimaeras are cartilaginous fish in the order Chimaeriformes , known informally as ghost sharks, rat fish, spookfish, or rabbit fish; the last three names are not to be confused with rattails, Opisthoproctidae, or Siganidae, respectively. At ...

. ''Coccodus'' is closely related to the similarly spined genera ''

Trewavasia ''Trewavasia carinata'' is an extinct pycnodontid fish in the family Coccodontidae that lived during the lower Cenomanian of what is now Lebanon. It had a large, forward-pointing horn-like spine between its eyes, and a massive stump-like spine ...

Corusichthys ''Corusichthys megacephalus'' is an extinct pycnodontid that lived during the lower Cenomanian of what is now Lebanon. ''C. megacephalus'' is known from a 34 mm long fossil. It had plates arranged like a helmet around its head, and had a m ...

, Paracoccodus'', and ''

Hensodon ''Hensodon spinosus'' is an extinct pycnodontid that lived during the Upper Cenomanian of what is now Lebanon. ''H. spinosus'' superficially resembled a marine angelfish with a massive head, and a very spiny pectoral girdle. Different specimens ...

'', which also lived during the Cenomanian of

Lebanon Lebanon ( , ar, لُبْنَان, translit=lubnān, ), officially the Republic of Lebanon () or the Lebanese Republic, is a country in Western Asia. It is located between Syria to the north and east and Israel to the south, while Cyprus li ...

Formerly in ''Coccodus''

The species ''Coccodus lindstroemi'' was recently determined to be a species complex, and various specimens assigned to ''C. lindstroemi'' were redescribed as species of the gladiopycnodontid genus '' Joinivillichthys''Taverne, Louis, and Luigi Capasso. "On the “Coccodus” lindstroemi species complex (Pycnodontiformes, Gladiopycnodontidae) from the marine Late Cretaceous of Lebanon, with the description of two new genera." European Journal of Taxonomy 101 (2014).

References

Pycnodontiformes genera Late Cretaceous fish of Asia Cretaceous bony fish {{Cretaceous-fish-stub

Formerly in ''Coccodus''

See also

References