Spinacanthus
Encyclopedia
Spinacanthus cuneiformis is an extinct prehistoric tetraodontid
bony fish that lived from the Lutetian
epoch
of Eocene
Monte Bolca
.
In life, it would have resembled a somewhat-flattened boxfish with five massive spines along the anterior-dorsal side, with the longest spine directly above the forehead, and the shortest spine directly in front of the dorsal fin. It is distinguished from its close, sympatric relative, Protobalistum
, in that its individual scales are relatively small, and do not touch each other. (In Protobalistum, the scales are large, and form a sort of armor).
S. cuneiformis and Protobalistum were a part of the ecosystem of the lagoon that would become Monte Bolca. It has been suggested that, because of their similarity to boxfish
, and due to their close relation to modern-day triggerfish
, spinacanthids may have preyed on shellfish and small fish.
Tetraodontiformes
The Tetraodontiformes are an order of highly derived ray-finned fish, also called the Plectognathi. Sometimes these are classified as a suborder of the Perciformes...
bony fish that lived from the Lutetian
Lutetian
The Lutetian is, in the geologic timescale, a stage or age in the Eocene. It spans the time between and . The Lutetian is preceded by the Ypresian and is followed by the Bartonian. Together with the Bartonian it is sometimes referred to as the Middle Eocene subepoch...
epoch
Epoch (geology)
An epoch is a subdivision of the geologic timescale based on rock layering. In order, the higher subdivisions are periods, eras and eons. We are currently living in the Holocene epoch...
of Eocene
Eocene
The Eocene Epoch, lasting from about 56 to 34 million years ago , is a major division of the geologic timescale and the second epoch of the Paleogene Period in the Cenozoic Era. The Eocene spans the time from the end of the Palaeocene Epoch to the beginning of the Oligocene Epoch. The start of the...
Monte Bolca
Monte Bolca
Monte Bolca is a lagerstätte near Verona, Italy that was one of the first fossil sites with high quality preservation known to Europeans, and is still an important source of fossils from the Eocene....
.
In life, it would have resembled a somewhat-flattened boxfish with five massive spines along the anterior-dorsal side, with the longest spine directly above the forehead, and the shortest spine directly in front of the dorsal fin. It is distinguished from its close, sympatric relative, Protobalistum
Protobalistum
Protobalistum imperiale is an extinct prehistoric tetraodontid bony fish that lived from the Lutetian epoch of Eocene Monte Bolca.In life, it would have resembled a somewhat-flattened boxfish with five massive spines along the anterior-dorsal side, with the longest spine directly above the...
, in that its individual scales are relatively small, and do not touch each other. (In Protobalistum, the scales are large, and form a sort of armor).
S. cuneiformis and Protobalistum were a part of the ecosystem of the lagoon that would become Monte Bolca. It has been suggested that, because of their similarity to boxfish
Boxfish
Ostraciidae is a family of squared, bony fish belonging to the order Tetraodontiformes, closely related to the pufferfishes and filefishes. Fish in the family are known variously as boxfishes, cofferfishes, cowfishes and trunkfishes...
, and due to their close relation to modern-day triggerfish
Triggerfish
Triggerfishes are about 40 species of often brightly colored fishes of the family Balistidae. Often marked by lines and spots, they inhabit tropical and subtropical oceans throughout the world, with the greatest species richness in the Indo-Pacific...
, spinacanthids may have preyed on shellfish and small fish.
See also
- Prehistoric fishPrehistoric fishPrehistoric fish refers to early fish that are known only from fossil records. They are the earliest known vertebrates, and include the first and extinct fish that lived through the Cambrian to the Tertiary. The study of prehistoric fish is called paleoichthyology...
- List of prehistoric bony fish
- ProtobalistumProtobalistumProtobalistum imperiale is an extinct prehistoric tetraodontid bony fish that lived from the Lutetian epoch of Eocene Monte Bolca.In life, it would have resembled a somewhat-flattened boxfish with five massive spines along the anterior-dorsal side, with the longest spine directly above the...
, its closest relative - EospinusEospinusEospinus daniltshenkoi is an extinct tetraodontid bony fish from the Eocene. Its fossils are from the Danata Formation lagerstatten of Ypresian Turkmenistan....
, another close relative from the Earliest Eocene of TurkmenistanTurkmenistanTurkmenistan , formerly also known as Turkmenia is one of the Turkic states in Central Asia. Until 1991, it was a constituent republic of the Soviet Union, the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic . Turkmenistan is one of the six independent Turkic states... - EolactoriaEolactoriaEolactoria sorbinii is an extinct prehistoric boxfish that lived during the Lutetian epoch of the middle Eocene, in Monte Bolca. It had two pairs of long spines, one over each eye, and one pair beneath the anal and caudal fins, arranged very similarly to those possessed by the modern genus...
, another extinct tetraodontid from Monte Bolca - ProaracanaProaracanaProaracana dubia is an extinct, prehistoric aracanid boxfish that lived during the Lutetian of middle Eocene Monte Bolca.-See also:* Eolactoria* Prehistoric fish* List of prehistoric bony fish...
, another extinct tetraodontid from Monte Bolca