Elopopsis

Elopopsis (meaning "Elops-like face") is an extinct genus of marine ray-finned fish that lived during the Late Cretaceous ( Cenomanian to Turonian) of Europe, North Africa and North America. It was a member of the Crossognathiformes, in the family Pachyrhizodontidae.^[1][2]

Elopopsis Temporal range: Early Cenomanian to Late Turonian[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	†Crossognathiformes
Family:	†Pachyrhizodontidae
Genus:	†Elopopsis Heckel, 1856
Type species
†Elopopsis fenzli Heckel, 1856
Species
See text

It contains the following species:^[2][3][4]

• †E. crassus (Dixon, 1850) - early-mid Cenomanian to middle Turonian of England (English Chalk)^[5]
• †E. heckeli Reuss, 1857 - Cenomanian of the Czech Republic
• †E. fenzli Heckel, 1856 (type species) - late Cenomanian of Slovenia (Komen Limestone)
• †E. microdon Heckel, 1856 - late Cenomanian of Slovenia (Komen Limestone), Morocco (Jbel Tselfat), and Germany (Hesseltal Formation)
• †E. smithwoodwardi Bayer, 1905 - Turonian of the Czech Republic^[6]
• †E. ziegleri von der Marck, 1868 - late Turonian of Germany

Indeterminate remains referable to Elopopsis are known from the Cenomanian of Saskatchewan, Canada (Ashville Formation) and the United States (Greenhorn Limestone of Colorado, Graneros Shale of Nebraska), indicating that they inhabited the Western Interior Seaway early on.^[2][7] The former species "E." dentex from the Komen Limestone appears to be a specimen of Enchodus.^[3]

It was likely a predatory fish that fed on smaller fish. A well-preserved specimen of E. microdon from the Hesseltal Formation of Germany has fossilized intestinal casts.^[8]

References

1. Sepkoski, Jack (2002). "A compendium of fossil marine animal genera". Bulletins of American Paleontology. 364: 560. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
2. "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-12-24.
3. Geology, British Museum (Natural History) Department of; Woodward, Arthur Smith (1901). Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini. order of the Trustees.
4. Amalfitano, Jacopo; Giusberti, Luca; Fornaciari, Eliana; Carnevale, Giorgio (2020-04-03). "UPPER CENOMANIAN FISHES FROM THE BONARELLI LEVEL (OAE2) OF NORTHEASTERN ITALY". Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia. 126 (2). doi:10.13130/2039-4942/13224. ISSN 2039-4942.
5. Friedman, Matt; Beckett, Hermione T.; Close, Roger A.; Johanson, Zerina (2016). "The English Chalk and London Clay: two remarkable British bony fish Lagerstätten". Geological Society, London, Special Publications. 430 (1): 165–200. doi:10.1144/SP430.18.
6. Frič, Antonin; Bayer, František (1902). "NOVÉ RYBY ESKÉHO ÚTVARU KÍDOVÉHO" (PDF). Palaeontographica Bohemiae. C (VII).
7. Cumbaa, Stephen L.; Shimada, Kenshu; Cook, Todd D. (2010-09-01). "Mid-Cenomanian vertebrate faunas of the Western Interior Seaway of North America and their evolutionary, paleobiogeographical, and paleoecological implications". Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology. 295 (1): 199–214. doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2010.05.038. ISSN 0031-0182.
8. Hunt, Adrian P.; Milàn, Jesper; Lucas, Spencer G.; Spielmann, Justin A. (2012). Vertebrate Coprolites: Bulletin 57. New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science.