Thorectichthys rhadinus Murray & Wilson, 2013

By oilshale (edited)

• December 20, 2016

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopteri Cope 1871
Order: Ellimmichthyiformes GRANDE, 1982
Family: Paraclupeidae CHANG & CHOU, 1977 (sensu ALVARADO-ORTEGA et al. 2008)
Genus: Thorectichthys
Species: Thorectichthys rhadinus
Author Citation Murray & Wilson, 2013

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Mesozoic
Period: Cretaceous
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Late
International Age: Cenomanian / Turonian

Stratigraphy

"Continental intercalaire" Group
Akrabou Formation

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Length: 4 cm

Location

Gara es Sbâa
Tafraoute
Tiznit Province
Morocco

• akrabou formation
• cretaceous
• gara es sbaa
• kem-kem
• morocco
• tafraoute
• tff-oilshale-ch1170
• thorectichthys

Comments

There are two Thorectichthys species in Gara es Sbâa: The deep-bodied T. marocensis and the more slender T. rhadinus.
Etymology: Generic name from the Greek "thorectes", masculine, meaning a warrior armed with a breast plate, in reference to the abdominal scutes of the fish, and "ichthys" meaning fish.
Species name from the Greek “rhadinos” meaning slender, tapering or lithe, in reference to the body depth of this species being much less than in T. marocensis.

Taxonomy from Murray and Wilson 2013.

Diagnosis from Murray and Wilson 2013, p. 276: "Differs from the type species Thorectichthys marocensis by having six predorsal bones (instead of five), having more total (24-26 compared to 22-25) and postpelvic (8-9 compared to 6-7) abdominal scutes and more pairs of ribs (17-18 compared to 14-15). In addition, there are 10-11 scutes in the predorsal series (8 in T. marocensis), and the body depth is 40-48 % of standard length (compared to 57-65 % in T. marocensis).

Identified by oilshale using Murray and Wilson 2013.

References:

Murray, A. & Wilson M. (2013) Two new paraclupeid fishes (Clupeomorpha: Ellimmichthyiformes) from the Upper Cretaceous of Morocco. Mesozoic Fishes 5 – Global Diversity and Evolution, G. Arratia, H.-P. Schultze & M. V. H. Wilson (eds.): pp. 267-290, 8 figs., 2 tabs., 2 apps.