Babelichthys

Babelichthys is an extinct genus of crestfish from the ?Late Eocene-aged^[1] Pabdeh Formation of Western Iran. It contains a single species, Babelichthys olneyi.^[2] The type specimen was initially figured by Camille Arambourg as a second, poorly-preserved specimen of the co-occurring crestfish Protolophotus, but in 2017 it was identified as its own distinct taxon.^[2][3]

Babelichthys Temporal range: Late Eocene, ?Priabonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Part and counterpart slabs. Scale bar = 20 mm
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Lampriformes
Family:	Lophotidae
Genus:	†Babelichthys Davesne, 2017
Species:	†B. olneyi
Binomial name
†Babelichthys olneyi Davesne, 2017

The single known specimen consists of a head and the front-most region of the dorsal fin, preserving the extremely elongated and enlarged first dorsal-fin ray. It has been inferred that Babelichthys had a highly elongated "crest" at the front of its dorsal fin that projected horizontally forwards like a horn, akin to that of the extant unicorn crestfish (Eumecichthys fiski) but even larger and more elongated.^[2]

It and the unicorn crestfish are each other's closest known relatives.^[2] However, some studies find Lophotidae to be paraphyletic, and place Babelichthys as an indeterminate taeniosome.^[4]

Scale bar = 10 mm

Etymology

The genus name Babelichthys literally translates to “Babel fish” in Greek, named after the teleost-like, ear-dwelling, polyglot extraterrestrial species from The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, as a reference to the very peculiar, almost alien-like, appearance of the genus. The species name "olneyi" is named after John E. Olney for his work on the anatomy and ontogeny of Lampriformes.^[2]