Paraulopus

Paraulopus
Temporal range: Aptian–present
Paraulopus nigripinnis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Aulopiformes
Suborder: Synodontoidei
Family: Paraulopidae
Tomoyasu Sato & Nakabo, 2002
Genus: Paraulopus
Tomoyasu Sato & Nakabo, 2002
Species

See text.

Paraulopus is the only genus in the family Paraulopidae, a family of grinners in the order Aulopiformes. They are commonly known as cucumberfishes, but locally some other Teleostei are also known by that name. They were considered in the Chlorophthalmidae or greeneye family until 2001.[1]

The fishes tend to be slender and cylindrical, with large eyes and a large terminal mouth with only slightly protruding lower jaw.[1]

The earliest known fossil evidence of cucumberfishes are otoliths from the Aptian and Albian of Spain, France, and Texas. It remains uncertain whether these otoliths actually belong to Paraulopus itself or to an extinct fossil paraulopid genus.[2]

Species

The currently recognized species in this genus are:[3]

Fossil taxa include:[2]

  • Paraulopus? applanatus Nolf, 2004 (Cenomanian of France)
  • Paraulopus? manei Nolf, 2004 (Aptian of Spain)
  • Paraulopus? pseudocentrolophus Nolf, 2004 (Aptian of Spain)
  • Paraulopus pseudoperca Nolf & Dockery, 1990 (Campanian to Paleocene of the United States and Germany)[4]
  • Paraulopus? wichitae Schwarzhans, Stringer & Welton, 2022 (Albian of Texas)

References

  • Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Family Paraulopidae". FishBase. April 2012 version.
  1. ^ a b Bray, Dianne; Gomon, Martin. "Family PARAULOPIDAE". Fishes of Australia. Archived from the original on 5 January 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
  2. ^ a b Schwarzhans, Werner; Stringer, Gary L.; Welton, Bruce (2022-12-01). "Oldest Teleostean Otolith Assemblage from North America (Pawpaw Formation, Lower Cretaceous, upper Albian, northeast Texas, USA)". Cretaceous Research. 140: 105307. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2022.105307. ISSN 0195-6671.
  3. ^ Froese, Rainer; Pauly, Daniel (eds.). "Species in genus Paraulopus". FishBase. April 2012 version.
  4. ^ Stringer, Gary; Schwarzhans, Werner (2021-09-01). "Upper Cretaceous teleostean otoliths from the Severn Formation (Maastrichtian) of Maryland, USA, with an unusual occurrence of Siluriformes and Beryciformes and the oldest Atlantic coast Gadiformes". Cretaceous Research. 125: 104867. doi:10.1016/j.cretres.2021.104867. ISSN 0195-6671.
Stub icon

This Aulopiformes article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.