Cimolichthys

{{Short description|Extinct genus of ray-finned fishes}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{Fossilrange|94.6|66|Late Cenomanian to Maastrichtian<ref name="PbDbCimolichys">[https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=35559 Paleobiology Database]</ref>}} | image = Cimolichthys UMMNH.jpg | image_caption = ''C. nepaholica'' mount, University of Michigan Museum of Natural History | parent_authority = Goody, 1969 | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Cimolichthys | authority = Leidy, 1857 | type_species = {{extinct}}'''''Cimolichthys levesiensis''''' | type_species_authority = Leidy, 1857 | subdivision_ranks = Species | subdivision = * †''C. levesiensis'' Leidy, 1857 * †''C. nepaholica'' Cope, 1872 | synonyms = * {{extinct}}''Plinthophorus'' Günther, 1864 }}

'''''Cimolichthys''''' (Greek for "chalk fish") is an extinct genus of large predatory marine aulopiform ray-finned fish known worldwide from the Late Cretaceous. It is the only member of the family '''Cimolichthyidae'''.<ref name=":1"/><ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last1=Silva |first1=Hilda M. A |last2=Gallo |first2=Valéria |date=June 2011 |title=Taxonomic review and phylogenetic analysis of Enchodontoidei (Teleostei: Aulopiformes) |journal=Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciências |volume=83 |issue=2 |pages=483–511 |doi=10.1590/S0001-37652011000200010 |pmid=21670874}}</ref>

== Taxonomy == [[File:Cimolichthys nepaholica DMNHS54M 01.jpg|left|thumb|''C. nepaholica'' specimen, Denver Museum of Nature and Science]] ''Cimolichthys'' was a large-sized nektonic aulopiform fish, making it related to modern lancetfish and lizardfish. Within the Aulopiformes, it is generally considered a member of the Enchodontoidei, a dominant group of predatory nektonic fish throughout much of the Cretaceous;<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Davis |first1=Matthew P. |last2=Fielitz |first2=Christopher |date=2010 |title=Estimating divergence times of lizardfishes and their allies (Euteleostei: Aulopiformes) and the timing of deep-sea adaptations |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ympev.2010.09.003 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=57 |issue=3 |pages=1194–1208 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2010.09.003 |bibcode=2010MolPE..57.1194D |issn=1055-7903|url-access=subscription }}</ref> however, some other treatments instead place it outside the Enchodontoidei and in a basal position as sister to the waryfishes, a small family of extant deep-sea aulopiformes.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Near |first1=Thomas J. |last2=Thacker |first2=Christine E. |date=2024 |title=Phylogenetic Classification of Living and Fossil Ray-Finned Fishes (Actinopterygii) |url=https://bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-peabody-museum-of-natural-history/volume-65/issue-1/014.065.0101/Phylogenetic-Classification-of-Living-and-Fossil-Ray-Finned-Fishes-Actinopterygii/10.3374/014.065.0101.full |journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History |volume=65 |issue=1 |pages=3–302 |doi=10.3374/014.065.0101 |issn=0079-032X|doi-access=free }}</ref> Yet other studies have instead placed it as a sister to the extant daggertooths.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Díaz-Cruz |first1=Jesús Alberto |last2=Giles |first2=Sam |last3=Hermione T Beckett |last4=Alvarado-Ortega |first4=Jesus |date=2020 |title=A redescription of Cimolichthys lewesiensis leidy, 1857 (Aulopiformes: Cimolichthyidae) based on computed tomography with comments on its phylogenetic position |url=http://rgdoi.net/10.13140/RG.2.2.24324.76161 |journal=Fishes & Chondrichthyans: Evolution & Distribution |language=en |doi=10.13140/RG.2.2.24324.76161}}</ref>

The following species are known:<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |title=PBDB Taxon |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=txn:35559 |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Paleobiology Database}}</ref>

* †'''''C. levesiensis''''' Leidy, 1857 - Cenomanian of England (English Chalk),<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Friedman |first1=Matt |last2=Beckett |first2=Hermione T. |last3=Close |first3=Roger A. |last4=Johanson |first4=Zerina |date=2016 |title=The English Chalk and London Clay: two remarkable British bony fish Lagerstätten |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/10.1144/SP430.18 |journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications |language=en |volume=430 |issue=1 |pages=165–200 |doi=10.1144/SP430.18 |bibcode=2016GSLSP.430..165F |issn=0305-8719|url-access=subscription }}</ref> late Cenomanian/early Turonian of Germany (Hesseltal Formation),<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Hunt |first1=Adrian P. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=C_MoCgAAQBAJ |title=Vertebrate Coprolites: Bulletin 57 |last2=Milàn |first2=Jesper |last3=Lucas |first3=Spencer G. |last4=Spielmann |first4=Justin A. |date=2012 |publisher=New Mexico Museum of Natural History and Science |language=en}}</ref> possibly Turonian of Canada (Kaskapau Formation)<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=Mark V. H. |last2=Chalifa |first2=Yael |date=1989-12-01 |title=Fossil marine actinopterygian fishes from the Kaskapau Formation (Upper Cretaceous: Turonian) near Watino, Alberta |url=http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/10.1139/e89-222 |journal=Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences |language=fr |volume=26 |issue=12 |pages=2604–2620 |doi=10.1139/e89-222 |bibcode=1989CaJES..26.2604W |issn=0008-4077|url-access=subscription }}</ref> * †'''''C. nepaholica''''' Cope, 1872 - Turonian to Campanian of Canada (Vermilion River Formation of Manitoba, Northwest Territories), Cenomanian to Maastrichtian of the United States (Mooreville Chalk of Alabama, Greenhorn Limestone of Colorado, Niobrara Formation of Kansas & South Dakota), and Maastrichtian of the Netherlands & Belgium (both Maastricht Formation)<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal |last=Friedman |first=M. |date=2012-01-01 |title=Ray-finned fishes (Osteichthyes, Actinopterygii) from the type Maastrichtian, the Netherlands and Belgium |url=https://repository.naturalis.nl/pub/428932 |journal=Scripta Geologica. Special Issue |language=en |volume=08 |pages=113–142 |issn=0922-4564}}</ref>

''C. anceps'', ''C. gladiolus'', ''C. semianceps'', ''C. contracta'', ''C. merillii'', and ''C. sulcatus'', all described by Cope (1872), are now considered synonymous with ''C. nepaholica''.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Beirut |first1=American University of |last2=Day |first2=Alfrid |last3=Hay |first3=Oliver Perry |title=On a collection of Upper Cretaceous fishes from Mount Lebanon, Syria, with descriptions of four new genera and nineteen new species. Bulletin of the AMNH; v. 19, article 10 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/bibliography/89618 |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=Biodiversity Heritage Library}}</ref> Indeterminate remains are known from the Maastrichtian of Niger & Brazil, and the Turonian of the Czech Republic.<ref name=":1" /><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ekrt |first1=Boris |last2=Košt'ák |first2=Martin |last3=Mazuch |first3=Martin |last4=Voigt |first4=Silke |last5=Wiese |first5=Frank |date=2008-08-01 |title=New records of teleosts from the Late Turonian (Late Cretaceous) of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin (Czech Republic) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667108000268 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=659–673 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2008.01.013 |bibcode=2008CrRes..29..659E |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

==Description== Although the closest living relatives of ''Cimolichthys'' are lancetfish and lizardfish, the living animals would have resembled very large pikes. They could grow up to {{Convert|1.5 to 2.0|m|ft}} meters long. Their bodies were covered by large, heavy scutes. Typical of this species are narrow lower jaws with several series of teeth. Remains of undigested fishes or squids have been found in collected specimens. Particularly well-preserved specimens are known from the Niobrara Formation of Kansas.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Cimolichthys |url=http://oceansofkansas.com/Cimolich.html |access-date=2024-05-17 |website=oceansofkansas.com}}</ref> Their barbed teeth are distinctive, and can identify the presence of this genus even in formations where articulated remains are not otherwise known.<ref name=":2" />

==Gallery== <gallery widths=260px> File:Cimolichthys.JPG |''Cimolichthys'' at the Canadian Museum of Nature, Ottawa File: Cimolichthys nepaholica.png | Restoration of ''Cimolichthys nepaholica''. </gallery>

==References== {{Portal|Paleontology}} {{Reflist}} *Sepkoski, Jack [http://strata.geology.wisc.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=307&rank=class Sepkoski's Online Genus Database]

† Category:Prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Category:Late Cretaceous bony fish Category:Cenomanian genus first appearances Category:Turonian genera Category:Santonian genera Category:Campanian genera Category:Maastrichtian genus extinctions Category:Late Cretaceous fish of North America Category:Cretaceous fish of Europe Category:Late Cretaceous fish of South America Category:Late Cretaceous fish of Africa Category:Fossils of England Category:Fossils of Germany Category:Fossils of the Netherlands Category:Fossils of Belgium Category:Fossils of the Czech Republic Category:Fossils of Canada Category:Fossils of the United States Category:Mooreville Chalk Category:Fossils of Brazil Category:Fossils of Niger Category:Fossil taxa described in 1857 Category:Taxa named by Joseph Leidy