Teleostei, Muller, 1845

Hryniewicz, Krzysztof, Amano, Kazutaka, Bitner, Maria Aleksandra, Hagström, Jonas, Kiel, Steffen, Klompmaker, Adiël A., Mörs, Thomas, Robins, Cristina M. & Kaim, Andrzej, 2019, A late Paleocene fauna from shallow-water chemosynthesis-based ecosystems, Spitsbergen, Svalbard, Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 64 (1), pp. 101-141 : 131

Teleostei gen. et sp. indet.

Fig. 24 .

Material.—NRM-PZ P16479a–e, one complete and one fragmented tooth and three partly fragmented vertebra from the upper Paleocene of Zachariassendalen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard.

Description.—Complete tooth shows translucent cap at apex. Both teeth small, ~ 1 mm and 2 mm; strongly posteriorly recurved and laterally compressed. Outer surfaces bear very fine longitudinal striations. Both teeth with expanded

area of spongy bone at base that marks jaw attachment. Vertebra small, similarly-sized to teeth.

Remarks.—The teleost material reported here represents the second finding of actinopterygian fish from the Cenozoic of Spitsbergen. The first actinopterygian was described as a fossil bowfin, Pseudamia heintzi , by Lehman (1951). According to Thomsen (2013), the specimen was discovered at Cap Dresselhuys, implying that it derives from the late Paleocene (Thanetian) Grumantbyen Formation ( Dallmann 2015), which overlies the Basilika Formation. Both bowfin ( Amia sp. ) and scombroid teleost teeth assigned to Eutrichiurides have been described from the Eocene Eureka Sound Formation on Banks Island in the Canadian High Arctic by Gottfried and Eberle (2018). In addition to its presence in the High Arctic, scombroid teeth are known from many Paleogene localities in Europe, Africa, India, and the USA ( Gottfried and Eberle 2018).

Figures

Fig.24.Teleost fish remains from the upper Paleocene, Basilika Formation, Zachariassendalen, Spitsbergen, Svalbard. NRM-PZ P16479a–e, teeth (A1,A2), vertebra (A3–A5).