Davichthys

Davichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish related to modern ladyfish. It is known from the Late Cretaceous of southern Europe, the Middle East, and North Africa. It is one of the earliest known elopids.^[1][2][3][4]

Davichthys Temporal range: Cenomanian to Santonian PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Specimen of D. gardneri
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Order:	Elopiformes
Family:	Elopidae
Genus:	†Davichthys Forey, 1973
Species
†D. dubius (Davis, 1887) †D. gardneri Forey, 1973 †D. lacostei (Arambourg, 1954)

Taxonomy

The following species are known:

• †D. dubius (Davis, 1887) - Late Santonian of Lebanon (Sahel Alma) (=Osmeroides dubius Davis, 1887)
• †D. gardneri Forey, 1973 - Late Cenomanian of Lebanon (Sannine Formation)
• †D. lacostei (Arambourg, 1954) - Late Cenomanian of Italy (Scaglia Variegata Alpina Formation, Scaglia Bianca Formation) including Sicily (Argille Varicolori Formation), and Morocco (Jbel Tselfat) (=Holcolepis lacostei Arambourg, 1954)

Description

This fish was usually less than 15 centimeters long, and its appearance must have been very similar to that of the modern Elops . Like the latter, Davichthys had an elongated body with an oval cross-section, slightly flattened laterally. The eyes were rather large, while the mouth had robust jaws. The dorsal fin and the anal fin were rather small; the ventral fins were inserted far back, under the dorsal. The pectoral fins were placed low on the body. The caudal fin was very broad and strongly forked.^[2]

See also

• Paleontology portal
• Fish portal

• Prehistoric fish
• List of prehistoric bony fish