''Discoserra'' is a prehistoric

ray-finned fish Actinopterygii (; ), members of which are known as ray-finned fishes, is a class of bony fish. They comprise over 50% of living vertebrate species. The ray-finned fishes are so called because their fins are webs of skin supported by bony or h ...

from the

Mississippian Mississippian may refer to: * Mississippian (geology), a subperiod of the Carboniferous period in the geologic timescale, roughly 360 to 325 million years ago *Mississippian culture, a culture of Native American mound-builders from 900 to 1500 AD ...

of Montana, a member of the

Guildayichthyiformes Guildayichthyidae is a prehistoric family of marine fish from the Mississippian Bear Gulch Limestone of Montana Montana () is a U.S. state, state in the Mountain states, Mountain West List of regions of the United States#Census Bureau-d ...

, with a round body and a skull possessing primitive and modern traits. ''Discoserra'' is about 60 mm long. In 2006, ''Discoserra'' was hypothesized to be a

stem Stem or STEM may refer to: Plant structures * Plant stem, a plant's aboveground axis, made of vascular tissue, off which leaves and flowers hang * Stipe (botany), a stalk to support some other structure * Stipe (mycology), the stem of a mushr ...

neopterygian Neopterygii (from Greek νέος ''neos'' 'new' and πτέρυξ ''pteryx'' 'fin') is a subclass of ray-finned fish (Actinopterygii). Neopterygii includes the Holostei and the Teleostei, of which the latter comprise the vast majority of extan ...

, although it has alternatively been placed in

Cladistia Cladistia is a clade of bony fishes whose only living members are the bichirs. Their major synapomorphies are a heterocercal tail in which the dorsal fin has independent rays, and a posteriorly elongated parasphenoid. Cladistia are the earlies ...

along with other Guildayichthyiformes.

References

Mississippian fish of North America Guildayichthyiformes {{paleo-rayfinned-fish-stub