ELOPIFORMES Sauvage, 1875

Miyata, Shinya, Isaji, Shinji, Kashiwagi, Kenji & Asai, Hidehiko, 2023, The first record of Lower Cretaceous otoliths from the Kimigahama Formation (Barremian) of the Choshi Group, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, Palaeontologia Electronica (a 20) 27 (1), pp. 1-23 : 7-11

Order ELOPIFORMES Sauvage, 1875 Elopiformes fam., gen. et sp. indet.

( Figure 4 A-C)

Reference material. CBM–PV 8206 ( Figure 4A ) and 16 other otoliths

Description. The otoliths are thin, small, and approximately 2–3 mm length. The shape is elliptical, the dorsal rim is slightly convex, the posterior rim is rounded, and the ventral rim is straight. The external surface is flat. The ostium is funnel-shaped, and the rostrum is well-developed and pointed. The excisura is not notched. The sulcus is closed at the posterior end, and the anterior opening is ostial. The cauda is medial, straight, and elongated toward the posterior part and does not reach the posterior margin. The crista superior is developed along the dorsal margin of the cauda. There is no dorsal depression above the crista superior.

Remarks. The specimen is like the Protoelops scalpellum (Nolf, 2004) from the Aptian Forcall Formation, which is an otolith-based species. Protoelops scalpellum was assigned to be “Protacanthopterygiorum” in Nolf (2004); however, Schwarzhans (2018) assigned “Protacanthopterygiorum” to Protoelops , which belongs to Elopiformes . In our specimens, a thin, elliptical rostrum is developed, and the cauda does not reach the posterior rim. However, its dorsal rim is longer than that of the genus Protoelops . However, most specimens are fragmented, making it challenging to determine whether they can be attributed to a distinct genus or species. Therefore, in the present study, this species is assigned to Elopiformes gen. et sp. indet.

Indeterminate PROTACANTHOPTERYGII Greenwood et al., 1966

Order ARGENTINIFORMES Bertelsen 1958

Family ARGENTINIDAE Bonaparte 1846 Argentinidae gen. et sp. indet.

( Figure 4 D-F)

Reference material. CBM–PV 8207 ( Figure 4D ) and 31 other otoliths

Description. The otoliths are thin and approximately 2–3 mm length. The shape is nearly pentagonal, the dorsal rim is almost straight, the ventral rim is sinuate, and the posterior rim is slightly angled. The ostium is funnel-shaped, and the rostrum is blunt. The sulcus is open at the posterior end, and the anterior opening is ostial. The cauda is medial, straight, and elongated toward the posterior end. The crista inferior is not well-delineated. The dorsal depression is present above the crista superior.

Remarks. The present specimen is like the Aptian species of Argentina ? bergantinum (Nolf, 2004) because the shape is pentagonal in outline, the cauda is elongated toward the posterior end, and the ventral rim is sinuate. However, the rostrum is less developed than that of A.? bergantinum. Maastrichtian species of A. voigti Schwarzhans, 2010 , Albian species of “A”. lobata (Stinton, 1973) , Aptian species Argentina? texana Schwarzhans et al., 2022 , and Valanginian species Palaeoargentina plicata Pindakiewicz et al., 2022 are known as Cretaceous otolith-based species. The Early Cretaceous genus Argentina is at least tentative or questionable (see Schwarzhans, 2018); therefore, we treated the present specimen as an undetermined species of the Argentinidae gen. et sp. indet. On the other hand, according to Schwarzhans (2018), these similar Argentinid otolith characteristics are plesiomorphic and have also been observed in extinct stem teleosts. The genus Leptolepis , which includes stem teleosts, also has a similar otolith morphology to that of Cretaceous otolith-based Argentinid species. However, the stratigraphic

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USA Texas Kemp Clay deltaic,prodelta late Maastrichtian with shelf deposits (Kocurek,1978)

USA Arkansas Arkadelphia possibly inner late Maastrichtian Formation shelf; less than 20 m in depth

Netherlands Limburg Maastricht shallow-marine late Maastrichtian Formation (not deeper than

40 m)

Germany Bavaria Gerhartsreiter middle shelf to Maastrichtian Formation abyssal (Butt and Hhrm, 1978)

Pterothrissus - - - Schwarzhans conchaeformis and Stringer Pterothrissus cf. (2020)

foreyi

Elopothrissus sp. Elops sp. - Apateodus Stringer and crenellatus ? Sloan (2023)

- - Argentina voigti Ichthyotringa ? Schwarzhans tavernei and Jagt (2021) Apateodus corneti

Pteralbula foreyi - Argentina voigti - Schwarzhans Pterothrissus sp. (2010)

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11 USA Maryland Severn open-ocean early to middle Formation conditions Maastrichtian

(Cochran et al.,

2003)

USA Mississippi Ripley Formation middle-shelf Maastrichtian range (20–100

m)

USA North Carolina Tar Heel inner to middle Campanian Formation neritic depths (shelf environment)

USA New Jersey Woodbury shallow marine, Campanian Formation inner to middle shelf

USA Mississippi Coffee Sand shallow-shelf Campanian Formation (Webb, 1984)

USA Tennessee Coon Creek shallow marine Campanian Formation

Pterothrissidae -? Argentina voigti Apateodus aff. Huddleston and indeterminate Argentinidae corneti Savoie (1983) Pterothrissus indeterminate Apateodus Stringer and conchaeformis crenellatus Schwarzhans Pterothrissus foreyi Ichthyotringa ? (2021)

tavernei

Pterothrissus sp. Megalops ? nolfi - Apateodus Stringer (1991) crenellatus Stringer et al. Thrax acutus (2020)

Pterothrissus Megalopidae - - Stringer et al. carolinensis indeterminate (2018) Pterothrissus sp. 2

Pterothrissidae indeterminate

Pterothrissus sp. 1 Megalopidae - - Stringer et al. Pterothrissus sp. 2 indeterminate (2016)

Pterothrissidae indeterminate

Pterothrissus sp. ? Megalopidae - - Nolf and Dockerym (1990)

Pterothrissidae - - - Stringer (2016) indeterminate

12 Netherlands Vaals-Eschberg Vaals Formation nearshore early Campanian - - Argentina sp. - Schwarzhans and Jagt (2022) 13

14 Spain Catalonia Font de les shallow marine Santonian-early Bagasses Unit (probably less Campanian than 50 m deep) (Albrich et al., 2014, 2015)

USA Alabama Eutaw Formation estuarine Santonian (Frazier, 1997)

- Elopidae - - Nolf (2003) indeterminate

Elopothrissus sp. Elops - Apateodus ? assisi Schwarzhans eutawanus Apateodus s p. et al. (2018b) 15 France Maine Ballon Formation proximal Cenomanian (Ballon Marl) platform

(Robaszynski et al., 1998) Pterothrissus ciabatta - - - Nolf (2016) 24

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India Mumbai Ambenali ragoon late Formation Maastrichtian- Danian (Verma and Khosla, 2019)

Netherlands Maastricht Maastricht shallow water, Maastrichtian Formation of semi lagoonal Kunrade area (Pollock, Limestone facies 1976)

Greece Eurytania Pindos Unit offshore late Maastrichtian

Greece Gavdos Island Pindos Unit pelagic middle-late Maastrichtian

Germany Westphalia Baumberge pelagic (Riegraf, Campanian Formation 1995)

Germany Sendenhorst Coesfeld mesoneritic Campanian Formation

Canada Alberta Bearpaw delta to off shore late Campanian Formation (Tsujita and Westermann, 1998) - - - Apateodus sp. Cripps et al. (2005)

- - - Apateodus Kruizinga (1924) corneti Schwarzhans et al. (2018a)

- - - Ichthyotringidae Argyriou and indet. Davesne (2021)

- - - Ichthyotringa Argyriou et al. pindica (2022)

Istieus - - - Forey (1973) macrocephalus

Istieus grandis Sedenhorstia - Ichthyotringa Forey (1973)

Istieus gracilis granulata furcata Goody (1969)

Dietze?(2009)

- - - Ursichthys Newbrey and longiparietalis Konishi (2015)

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France Vallentigny Marnes de epicontinental late Albian Brienne sea (Corentin et al., 2020)

Congo Kipala Kwango Group lagoon (LÓPEZ- Albian Arbarello, 2004)

Australia Queensland Toolebuc shallow marine Albian Formation?

Mexico Tlayúa Tlayúa transitional Albian Formation shallow marine - Elopoides - - Forey (1973) tomassoni

- Kipalelops - - Taverne (1976a) lepersonnei

- Flindersichthys - - Bartholomai denmeadi (2010)

- Epaelops - - Alves et al. martinezi (2020)

range of the Leptolepis or Leptolepis - type otoliths is Jurassic to Hauterivian, and most otolith-based species are from the Jurassic (Schwarzhans, 2018). Therefore, otoliths with shapes like those of the Cretaceous genus Argentina may need to be re-examined and/or discovered as otoliths in situ with the skeleton.

Figures

FIGURE 4. Otoliths from the Kimigahama Formation (Barremian) in Chiba Prefecture, Japan. A-C: Elopiformes fam., gen. et sp. indet. A. CBM–PV 8206. A1) Dorsal view. A2) Line drawing of A1. A3) Inside view. A4) Line drawing of A3. B. CBM–PV 8326 B1) Dorsal view. B2) Inside view. C. CBM–PV 8327. C1) Dorsal view. C2) Inside view. D-F: Argentinidae gen. et sp. indet. D. CBM–PV 8207. D1) Dorsal view. D2) Line drawing of D1. D3) Inside view. D4) Line drawing of D3. E. CBM–PV 8328. E1) Dorsal view. E2) Inside view. F. CBM–PV 8329. F1) Dorsal view. F2) Inside view. G. Ichthyotringidae fam, gen. et sp. indet. G. CBM–PV 8208. G1) Dorsal view. G2) Line drawing of G1. G3) Inside view. G4) Line drawing of G3. Scale bar = 1 mm.