''Valenciennellus'' is a genus of marine hatchetfishes. They are commonly known as constellationfishes.

Species

There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * ''

Valenciennellus carlsbergi ''Valenciennellus'' is a genus of marine hatchetfishes. They are commonly known as constellationfishes. Species There are currently two recognized species in this genus: * '' Valenciennellus carlsbergi'' Bruun, 1931 * '' Valenciennellus tripun ...

Bruun Bruun is a surname of North Germanic origin. The meaning is ''brown'' (''brun'' in Danish, Swedish and Norwegian). In Denmark, the name is known to have been in use since the 13th century in the form Bruun. Other spelling variants are ''Bruhn'' an ...

, 1931 * ''

Valenciennellus tripunctulatus ''Valenciennellus tripunctulatus'', commonly called the constellationfish, is a species of fish in the family Sternoptychidae (hatchetfish). Description ''Valenciennellus tripunctulatus'' is small, growing no longer than . It darkens its body a ...

'' (

Esmark Esmark is a surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Birgitte Esmark (1841–1897), Norwegian malacologist *Jens Esmark (1763–1839), Danish-Norwegian mineralogist, study of glaciers * Lars Mathias Hille Esmark (1908–1998), Norwegian ...

( sv), 1871) (Constellationfish)

Fossil A fossil (from Classical Latin , ) is any preserved remains, impression, or trace of any once-living thing from a past geological age. Examples include bones, shells, exoskeletons, stone imprints of animals or microbes, objects preserved ...

s of constellationfishes are known since the

Early Eocene In the geologic timescale the Ypresian is the oldest age (geology), age or lowest stage (stratigraphy), stratigraphic stage of the Eocene. It spans the time between , is preceded by the Thanetian Age (part of the Paleocene) and is followed by th ...

, more than 40

million years ago The abbreviation Myr, "million years", is a unit of a quantity of (i.e. ) years, or 31.556926 teraseconds. Usage Myr (million years) is in common use in fields such as Earth science and cosmology. Myr is also used with Mya (million years ago). ...

. (2002): 'Valenciennellus'' ''In:'' A compendium of fossil marine animal genera. ''Bulletins of American Paleontology'' 364: 560
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References

Sternoptychidae Extant Eocene first appearances Marine fish genera Taxa named by David Starr Jordan Taxa named by Barton Warren Evermann Ray-finned fish genera {{Stomiiformes-stub