Igornichthys HEYLER , 1969

Štamberg, Stanislav, 2013, Knowledge Of The Carboniferous And Permian Actinopterygian Fishes Of The Bohemian Massif - 100 Years After Antonín Frič, Acta Musei Nationalis Pragae Series B 69 (3 - 4), pp. 159-182 : 167-168

Genus Igornichthys HEYLER, 1969

T y p e s p e c i e s: Igornichthys doubingeri HEYLER, 1972 .

D i a g n o s i s (after Heyler 1969): Maxilla with the strong maxillary plate which is prolongated ventroposteriorly; lower jaw strong, not high posteriorly; operculum and suboperculum rather narrow; preoperculum is indistinct but bent anteriorly in its dorsal part; branchiostegal rays are narrow and numerous; the body is elongated, the pelvic fin joins at about 9 th row of the scales; the surface of the scales is extraordinarily ornamented, with one or two pointed tubercles posteriorly and partly ventrally directed.

Igornichthys sp.

1994 Igornichthys sp. ; Štamberg, p. 21; fig. 2; pl. 1, fig. 1.

2006 Igornichthys sp. ; Štamberg, p. 226, p. 227.

2008 Igornichthys sp. ; Štamberg and Zajíc, p. 152; fig. 225.

C h a r a c t e r i s t i c s: Very small fish, not exceeding 50 mm total length. Anteriorly situated lepidotrichia of the pectoral fins are proximally not segmented. The lateral side of the scales bear in their central region one or two conspicuous sharply pointed tubercles posteriorly oriented. Large orbit borders dorsally anteroposteriorly elongated dermosphenotic. The dermopterotic is square, two times shorter than the dermosphenotic, and is situated in the same line behind the dermosphenotic. The orbit is not in contact with the frontal. Supraorbital canal on the frontal bends laterally and traverses to the dermopterotic. Maxilla with ventroposteriorly elongated maxillary plate. The teeth have a wide base, are sharply pointed and arranged in one row.

M a t e r i a l: Specimen MHK 30866 deposited at the Museum of Eastern Bohemia at Hradec Králové .

Locality and stratigraphical range: Příkrý, district Semily, Krkonoše Piedmont Basin. Rudník Horizon Vrchlabí Formation, Asselian.

R e m a r k s: Genus Igornichthys was erected by Heyler (1969) on the basis of several specimens from the Igornay Formation of the Autun Basin ( France). Heyler at the same time ( Heyler 1969) determined also another new genus and species, Igornella comblei . While the specimens of Igornichthys demonstrate mainly the maxilla with the teeth, operculum, suboperculum, narrow branchiostegal rays and the scales with one or two tubercles posteriorly oriented, Igornella comblei shows a well preserved rostral region of the skull, the skull roof and partly also the opercular region. The specimen MHK 30866 from the Krkonoše Piedmont Basin demonstrates the characters of both genera, and it is questionable whether the genera Igornichthys and Igornella are synonymous. In that case, only the genus Igornichthys would be valid.