Coccodontidae is a
family
Family (from la, familia) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its members and of society. Idea ...
of
extinct pycnodontid fish that lived during the lower
Cenomanian.
The various genera had massive, curved spines.
The family is composed of five genera, the
type genus
In biological taxonomy, the type genus is the genus which defines a biological family and the root of the family name.
Zoological nomenclature
According to the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, "The name-bearing type of a nomina ...
, ''
Coccodus'', ''
Paracoccodus'' which was split off from ''Coccodus'', the newly described ''
Corusichthys
''Corusichthys megacephalus'' is an extinct pycnodontid that lived during the lower Cenomanian of what is now Lebanon. ''C. megacephalus'' is known from a 34 mm long fossil. It had plates arranged like a helmet around its head, and had a ...
'', the sexually dimorphic ''
Hensodon'', and ''
Trewavasia''. ''
Ichthyoceros
''Ichthyoceros spinosus'' is an extinct pycnodontid that lived during the lower Cenomanian of what is now Lebanon. ''I. spinosus'' had a triple, forward-pointing horn-like spine between its eyes, very similar to the single spine of '' Trewavas ...
'' was, at one time, placed in Coccodontidae, but then was moved with ''Trewavasia'' in "Trewavasiidae,"
[Nursall, Ralph Mesozoic Fishes – Systematics and Paleoecology, G. Arratia & G. Viohl (eds.), Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil, München, Germany, 1996 – "The phylogeny of pycnodont fishes"] and then, in 2014, was placed in the related pycnodontid family
Gladiopycnodontidae, while ''Trewavasia'' was returned to Coccodontidae.
Coccodontidae, together with Gladiopycnodontidae and the superficially
shrimpfish
Shrimpfish, also called razorfish, are five small species of marine fishes in the subfamily Centriscinae of the family Centriscidae. The species in the genera ''Aeoliscus'' and ''Centriscus'' are found in relatively shallow tropical parts of the ...
-like
Gebrayelichthyidae
Gebrayelichthyidae is a family of extinct pycnodontid fish, with a superficially shrimpfish-like appearance that lived during the lower Cenomanian.
The family is composed of two genera, the type genus, '' Gebrayelichthys'', and the monotypic ...
, make up the pycnodontid superfamily
Coccodontoidea.
See also
*
Prehistoric fish
The evolution of fish began about 530 million years ago during the Cambrian explosion. It was during this time that the early chordates developed the skull and the vertebral column, leading to the first craniates and vertebrates. The first fi ...
*
List of prehistoric bony fish
A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to:
People
* List (surname)
Organizations
* List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America
* SC Germania List, German rugby union ...
References
Pycnodontiformes
Late Cretaceous fish
Cretaceous bony fish
Prehistoric ray-finned fish families
Cenomanian first appearances
Cenomanian extinctions
{{Cretaceous-fish-stub