Dicellopyge

Dicellopyge is an extinct genus of freshwater ray-finned fish that lived during the early Anisian age of the Middle Triassic epoch in what is now South Africa. It was originally named "Dicellopygae" by James Brough but the name was later corrected to Dicellopyge by Peter Hutchinson.^[1][2]

Dicellopyge Temporal range: Anisian[1] PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N ↓
Dicellopyge draperi fossil
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Chordata
Class:	Actinopterygii
Family:	†Dicellopygidae Romer, 1945
Genus:	†Dicellopyge Brough, 1931
Type species
Dicellopyge macrodentata Brough, 1931
Species
D. draperi (Woodward, 1931) (=D. macrodentata Brough, 1931) D. lissocephalus Brough, 1931  ?D. tenuis Broom, 1909
Synonyms
Dicellopygae Brough, 1931

Dicellopyge is known from the lower Cynognathus Assemblage Zone, where it coexisted with fish such as Lissodus, Elonichthys, Ceratodus, Coelacanthus, Helichthys, Meidiichthys, and Atopocephala.^[1][2]

Classification

It is the only member of the family Dicellopygidae.^[2][3] Under a former treatment of an expanded Palaeonisciformes, it has been referred to the Palaeoniscidae^[4] as a close relative of Acrolepis, Cornuboniscus, Belichthys, and the Amblypteridae.^[5] However, such a classification is now considered paraphyletic.^[6]

Appearance

It is characterized by a short, blunt snout and a deeply cleft tail fin. Two species are known, D. draperi (Woodward, 1931) (=D. macrodentata) and D. lissocephalus Brough, 1931, which were contemporaries and differed in scale and tail fin morphology.^[2]