''Stromerichthys'' (" Stromer's fish") is an extinct genus of potentially chimaeric freshwater

bony fish Osteichthyes ( ; ), also known as osteichthyans or commonly referred to as the bony fish, is a Biodiversity, diverse clade of vertebrate animals that have endoskeletons primarily composed of bone tissue. They can be contrasted with the Chondricht ...

that lived during the Late

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

epoch In chronology and periodization, an epoch or reference epoch is an instant in time chosen as the origin of a particular calendar era. The "epoch" serves as a reference point from which time is measured. The moment of epoch is usually decided b ...

. It contains a single species, ''S. aethiopicus'', described from a now-lost specimen with bones & scales from Egypt. It was initially described as an amiiform related to the modern

bowfin The ruddy bowfin (''Amia calva'') is a ray-finned fish native to North America. Common names include mudfish, mud pike, dogfish, grindle, grinnel, swamp trout, and choupique. It is regarded as a relict, being one of only two surviving species ...

from scales and skeletal remains recovered in the

Cenomanian The Cenomanian is, in the International Commission on Stratigraphy's (ICS) geological timescale, the oldest or earliest age (geology), age of the Late Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch or the lowest stage (stratigraphy), stage of the Upper Cretace ...

-aged

Bahariya Formation The Bahariya Formation (also transcribed as Baharija Formation) is a List of fossiliferous stratigraphic units in Egypt, fossiliferous Formation (stratigraphy), geologic formation dating back to the early Cenomanian, which outcrops within the Baha ...

of Egypt; this

type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...

was later destroyed during the bombing of the

Palaeontological Museum, Munich The Palaeontological Museum in Germany (''Paläontologisches Museum München''), is a German national natural history museum located in the city of Munich, Bavaria. It is associated with the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität. It has a large co ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Later, isolated scales assigned to ''Stromerichthys'' were recovered from the earlier

of southern Europe (Portugal, France & Spain), and the

Albian The Albian is both an age (geology), age of the geologic timescale and a stage (stratigraphy), stage in the stratigraphic column. It is the youngest or uppermost subdivision of the Early Cretaceous, Early/Lower Cretaceous epoch (geology), Epoch/s ...

of the

Democratic Republic of the Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

. In 2015, Cavin ''et al'' found ''Stromerichthys'' to most likely be a

chimera Chimera, Chimaera, or Chimaira (Greek for " she-goat") originally referred to: * Chimera (mythology), a fire-breathing monster of ancient Lycia said to combine parts from multiple animals * Mount Chimaera, a fire-spewing region of Lycia or Cilicia ...

(a fossil taxon erected on a mixture of different taxa), with the skeletal remains of the type specimen likely belonging to the giant

bichir Bichirs and the reedfish comprise Polypteridae , a family (biology), family of archaic Actinopterygii, ray-finned fishes and the only family in the order (biology), order Polypteriformes .Helfman GS, Collette BB, Facey DE, Bowen BW. 2009. The D ...

'' Bawitius'' & a mawsoniid

coelacanth Coelacanths ( ) are an ancient group of lobe-finned fish (Sarcopterygii) in the class Actinistia. As sarcopterygians, they are more closely related to lungfish and tetrapods (the terrestrial vertebrates including living amphibians, reptiles, bi ...

, while the scales found with the type specimen and throughout Europe & Africa belonged to the extinct

gar Gars are an ancient group of ray-finned fish in the family Lepisosteidae. They comprise seven living species of fish in two genera that inhabit fresh, brackish, and occasionally marine waters of eastern North America, Central America and Cuba ...

relative ''

Obaichthys ''Obaichthys'' is an extinct genus of lepisosteiform fish that inhabited South America, Africa, and southern Europe during the mid-Cretaceous period. It closely resembled modern gars, which it was related to, but differed in its spiny scales and ...

''. The destruction of the type specimen means that ''Bawitius'' or ''Obaichthys'' cannot be considered

junior synonyms In taxonomy, the scientific classification of living organisms, a synonym is an alternative scientific name for the accepted scientific name of a taxon. The botanical and zoological codes of nomenclature treat the concept of synonymy differently. ...

of ''Stromerichthys'', and it is thus likely an invalid genus.

References

Monotypic prehistoric bony fish genera Paleontological chimeras Nomina dubia Cretaceous bony fish Late Cretaceous fish of Africa Cenomanian genera Bahariya Formation Fossil taxa described in 1935 {{Paleo-bony-fish-stub

See also

References