Armigatus

Armigatus is an extinct genus of marine clupeomorph fishes belonging to the order Ellimmichthyiformes.^[1] These fishes lived in the Cretaceous (Albian to Campanian, about 103-72 million years ago); their fossil remains have been found in Mexico, Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, suggesting the genus ranged across the Tethys Sea.^[2]

Armigatus Temporal range: Albian - Campanian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Fossil of A. brevissimus from Lebanon
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	†Ellimmichthyiformes
Family:	†Armigatidae
Genus:	†Armigatus Grande, 1982
Type species
†Clupea brevissimus Blainville, 1818
Species
See text

Etymology

The Latin generic epithet Armigatus, means bearer of armor. The specific epithet brevissimus signifies "shortest, smallest".

Description

Armigatus has an osteoglossid-like tooth patch, a large foramen in the anterior ceratohyal and a series of subtriangular dorsal scutes, giving rise to their scientific name.^[3]

Species

• †A. brevissimus (Blainville, 1818),^[4] the type species, from the Cenomanian of Lebanon (Hakel and Hajula in the Sannine Formation), Italy (Sicily), Slovenia (Komen), and Germany (Hesseltal Formation).^[5]
• †A. elatus (Costa, 1850) from the Albian Pietraroja Plattenkalk of Italy (=Histiurus elatus Costa, 1850)^[6]
• †A. namourensis Forey et al., 2003^[4][7] from Namoura, of the Sannine Formation in Lebanon.
• †A. alticorpus Forey et al., 2003^[4][7] from Namoura and Hakel, of the Sannine Formation in Lebanon.
• †A. oligodentatus Vernygora and Murray, 2016^[8] from the Cenomanian/early Turonian Akrabou Formation of Morocco.
• †A. dalmaticus Murray et al., 2016 from the Campanian deposits of Dalmatia, Croatia.^[9]
• †A. carrenoae Alvarado-Ortega et al., 2020 from the Albian Tlayua Formation of Mexico.^[2]
• †A. felixi Than-Marchese et al., 2022 from the Albian Tlayua Formation of Mexico.^[4]
• †A. plinii Marramà & Carnevale, 2023 from the Albian Pietraroja Plattenkalk of Italy^[6]