Micromesistius planatus ( Bassoli & Schubert, 1906)

Schwarzhans, Werner, Klots, Oleksandr, Ryabokon, Tamara & Kovalchuk, Oleksandr, 2022, A rare window into a back-reef fish community from the middle Miocene (late Badenian) Medobory Hills barrier reef in western Ukraine, reconstructed mostly by means of otoliths, Swiss Journal of Palaeontology (18) 141 (1), pp. 1-35 : 7

Micromesistius planatus ( Bassoli & Schubert, 1906)

Figure 3a, b

1906 Otolithus (Phycis) elegans var. planata —Bassoli & Schubert in Bassoli: pl. 1, figs. 11, 12.

1975 Micromesistius schwarzhansi —Holec: pl. 2, figs. 2–4.

1983 Micromesistius planatus ( Bassoli, 1906) —Nolf & Steurbaut: pl. 4, figs. 10–13 (and references therein).

1992 Micromesistius arcuatus —Radwańska: text-fig. 49, pl. 9, figs. 5–9 (and references therein).

2010 Micromesistius planatus ( Bassoli, 1906) —Schwarzhans: pl. 47, figs. 3, 4.

Material 2 otoliths, Mlyntsi, OL 7.0 and 4.2 mm, NMNHU-P PI 2568 and NMB P1218.

Discussion Otoliths of Micromesistius planatus exhibit a very pronounced ontogenetic allometry, whereby specimens of up to about 8 mm in length are relatively thin and flat and those of the largest known specimens, which are over 15 mm in length, are considerably thicker and show a more strongly bent inner face. Transitional morphologies between the size classes are relatively rare. Hence, smaller specimens have been described in the past as M. schwarzhansi . Micromesistius planatus is known from the Badenian of the Paratethys and the Tortonian of northern Italy.

Figures

Fig. 3 Otoliths of Gadiformes: a, b Micromesistius planatus (Bassoli & Schubert, 1906), Mlyntsi, a NMNHU-P PI 2568 and b NMB P1218. c–f Onogadus simplicissimus (Schubert, 1906), c (reversed), d, f Shydlivshchyna, NMB P1220, e Mlyntsi, NMNHU-P PI 2572