Ellimmichthys

Ellimmichthys
Illustration of E. goodi
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Ellimmichthyiformes
Family: Paraclupeidae
Genus: Ellimmichthys
Jordan, 1919
Type species
Diplomystus longicostatus
Cope, 1886
Species
  • E. longicostatus (Cope, 1886)
  • E. goodi (Eastman, 1912)
  • E. spinosus de Figuereido & Gallo, 2021

Ellimmichthys is an extinct genus of freshwater clupeomorph fish belonging to the order Ellimmichthyiformes, of which it is the type genus. It was a distant relative of modern herrings and anchovies.[1] It inhabited freshwater rift lakes in the supercontinent of West Gondwana (comprising modern South America and Africa) during the Early Cretaceous, and fossil remains are known from formations in both South America (Brazil) and Africa (Equatorial Guinea).[2][3]

Taxonomy

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The following species are known:[2][4]

Another species E. maceioensis Malabarba et al, 2004 from the Aptian-aged Maceió Formation of Alagoas, Brazil likely does not belong to this genus as it does not display diagnostic morphological characteristics.[6] However, the genus as a whole may also be paraphyletic with respect to Ellimma.[2][7]

The sister genus to Ellimmichthys is thought to be Eoellimmichthys, a marine paraclupeid that lived much later during the Early Eocene, with fossils known from Monte Bolca, Italy. Eoellimmichthys is thought to have been the last surviving paraclupeid, and the last surviving marine ellimmichthyiform as a whole.[3]

References

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  1. ^ "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-08-12.
  2. ^ a b c d e de Figueiredo, Francisco J.; Gallo, Valéria (2021-01-01). "Revision of †Ellimmichthys longicostatus (Clupeomorpha: †Ellimmichthyiformes) from the Lower Cretaceous of Brazil with comments on the taxonomy of related species". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 105: 103006. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2020.103006. ISSN 0895-9811.
  3. ^ a b Marramà, Giuseppe; Bannikov, Alexandre F.; Kriwet, Jürgen; Carnevale, Giorgio (2019). Cavin, Lionel (ed.). "An Eocene paraclupeid fish (Teleostei, Ellimmichthyiformes) from Bolca, Italy: the youngest marine record of double-armoured herrings". Papers in Palaeontology. 5 (1): 83–98. doi:10.1002/spp2.1230. ISSN 2056-2799. PMC 6392134. PMID 30854219.
  4. ^ Alvarado-Ortega, Jesús; Melgarejo-Damián, María del Pilar; Alvarado-Ortega, Jesús; Melgarejo-Damián, María del Pilar (2017). "Paraclupea seilacheri sp. nov., a double armored herring (Clupeomorpha, Ellimmichthyiformes) from the Albian limestones of Tlayúa quarry, Puebla, Mexico". Revista mexicana de ciencias geológicas. 34 (3): 234–249. doi:10.22201/cgeo.20072902e.2017.3.528. ISSN 1026-8774.
  5. ^ Murray, A.M. (2000). "The Palaeozoic, Mesozoic and Early Cenozoic fishes of Africa". Fish and Fisheries. 1 (2): 111–145. doi:10.1046/j.1467-2979.2000.00015.x. ISSN 1467-2960.
  6. ^ Polck, Márcia Aparecida dos Reis; Gallo, Valéria; de Figueiredo, Francisco J.; Viana, Samuel Magalhães; dos Santos, Viviane Sampaio Santiago; de Queiroz Neto, João Villar; Jahnert, Ricardo Jorge (2020-03-01). "†Ellimma longipectoralis sp. nov. (Teleostei: Clupeomorpha: †Ellimmichthyiformes) from the Aptian of the Santos Basin, southeastern Brazil". Journal of South American Earth Sciences. 98: 102318. doi:10.1016/j.jsames.2019.102318. ISSN 0895-9811.
  7. ^ de Figueiredo, Francisco J.; Gallo, Valéria (2023-02-01). "Caboellimma, a new genus for "Ellimma" cruzae Santos, 1990, an ellimmichthyiform fish (Teleostei: Clupeomorpha) from the Cabo Formation (Lower Cretaceous) of the Pernambuco-Paraíba Basin, north-east Brazil". Cretaceous Research. 142: 105393. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105393. ISSN 0195-6671.