''Ichthyodectes'' is an extinct genus of

ichthyodectid Ichthyodectiformes is an extinct order of marine stem-teleost ray-finned fish. The order is named after the genus ''Ichthyodectes'', established by Edward Drinker Cope in 1870. Ichthyodectiforms are usually considered to be some of the closest re ...

fish which lived during the

Late Cretaceous The Late Cretaceous (100.5–66 Ma) is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous Period is divided in the geologic time scale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous Series. The Cretaceous is named after ''creta'', the ...

. Fossils of the species included have been found from

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

Description

''Ichthyodectes ctenodon'' was a

around in length.Huge Ichthyodectes Fish Fossil from Kansas
The Virtual Fossil Museum

from 26 August 2022. It lived in the Western Interior Seaway of North America during the late

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of th ...

. It was closely related to the long ''

Xiphactinus ''Xiphactinus'' (from Latin and Greek for " sword-ray") is an extinct genus of large (Shimada, Kenshu, and Michael J. Everhart. "Shark-bitten Xiphactinus audax (Teleostei: Ichthyodectiformes) from the Niobrara Chalk (Upper Cretaceous) of Kansas. ...

audax'', and the long ''

Gillicus arcuatus ''Gillicus'' was a relatively small, 2-metre long ichthyodectiform fish that lived in the Western Interior Seaway, in what is now central North America, during the Late Cretaceous. Description Like its larger relative, ''Ichthyodectes ctenodon ...

'', and like other ichthyodectids, ''I. ctenodon'' is presumed to have been a swift predator of smaller fish. As its species name suggests, ''I. ctenodon'' had small, uniformly sized teeth, as did its smaller relative, ''G. arcuatus'', and may have simply sucked suitably sized prey into its mouth.

Species

*''I. acanthicus'' *''I. anaides'' *''I. arcuatus'' *''I. cruentus'' *''I. ctenodon'' *''I. elegans'' *''I. goodeanus'' *''I. hamatus'' *''I. libanicus'' *''I. minor'' *''I. multidentatus'' *''I. parvus'' *''I. perniciosus'' *''I. prognathus'' *''I. tenuidens''

References

Ichthyodectidae Prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Coniacian genus first appearances Santonian life Campanian genus extinctions Late Cretaceous fish of North America Mooreville Chalk Fossil taxa described in 1870 Taxa named by Edward Drinker Cope {{paleo-rayfinned-fish-stub