Davichthys

Davichthys; Temporal range: Cenomanian to Santonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
	Specimen of D. gardneri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Elopiformes
Family:	Elopidae
Genus:	†Davichthys; Forey, 1973
Species
	†D. dubius (Davis, 1887); †D. gardneri Forey, 1973; †D. lacostei (Arambourg, 1954);

Davichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish related to modern ladyfish. It is known from the Late Cretaceous of southern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. It is one of the earliest known elopids.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]

Taxonomy

The following species are known:

†D. dubius (Davis, 1887) - Late Santonian of Lebanon (Sahel Alma) (=Osmeroides dubius Davis, 1887)
†D. gardneri Forey, 1973 - Late Cenomanian of Lebanon (Sannine Formation)
†D. lacostei (Arambourg, 1954) - Late Cenomanian of Italy (Scaglia Variegata Alpina Formation, Scaglia Bianca Formation) including Sicily (Argille Varicolori Formation), and Morocco (Jbel Tselfat) (=Holcolepis lacostei Arambourg, 1954)

Description

This fish was usually less than 15 centimeters long, and its appearance must have been very similar to that of the modern Elops . Like the latter, Davichthys had an elongated body with an oval cross-section, slightly flattened laterally. The eyes were rather large, while the mouth had robust jaws. The dorsal fin and the anal fin were rather small; the ventral fins were inserted far back, under the dorsal. The pectoral fins were placed low on the body. The caudal fin was very broad and strongly forked.^[2]

References

^ "PBDB Taxon". paleobiodb.org. Retrieved 2024-08-09.
^ ^a ^b Forey, Peter L; Forey, Peter L. (1973-12-21). "A revision of the Elopiform Fishes, fossil and recent". Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History). Geology. Supplement. 10: 1––222. doi:10.5962/p.310418.
^ Stiassny, Melanie L. J.; Parenti, Lynne R.; Johnson, G. David (1996-11-08). Interrelationships of Fishes. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-08-053492-3.
^ 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.