Eocottus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = {{fossilrange|50|49|Early Eocene<ref name="sepkoskidb">{{cite journal|last=Sepkoski |first=Jack |title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera |journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology |volume=363 |pages=1–560 |year=2002 |url=http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |accessdate=2009-02-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723131237/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |archivedate=2011-07-23 }}</ref>}} | image = Eocottus veronensis.jpg | image_caption = Specimen of ''E. veronensis'', Museo di Storia Naturale di Verona | grandparent_authority = Bannikov, 2004 | display_parents = 3 | taxon = Eocottus veronensis | parent_authority = Woodward, 1901 | authority = (Volta, 1796) | synonyms = * †''Gobius veronensis'' <small>Volta, 1796</small> }}

'''''Eocottus''''' (meaning "dawn ''Cottus''") is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that lived during the early Eocene. It contains a single species, '''''E. veronensis''''' from the Monte Bolca site of Italy.<ref name="sepkoskidb"/><ref>{{Cite web |title=PBDB Taxon |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=txn:35895 |access-date=2024-12-31 |website=paleobiodb.org}}</ref>

''Eocottus'' was a small fish that superficially resembled a goby or sculpin. It was initially described in ''Gobius'' by Volta (1796) (first erroneously as a fossil specimen of the Atlantic mudskipper, then ''Gobius barbatus'', and then as its own species, ''G. veronensis''), and moved to its own genus ''Eocottus'' by Woodward (1901), who considered it to be a relative of sculpins, hence its new name.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Geology |first=British Museum (Natural History) Department of |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Catalogue_of_the_Fossil_Fishes_in_the_Br/ZtEKAQAAIAAJ |title=Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini |last2=Woodward |first2=Arthur Smith |date=1901 |publisher=order of the Trustees |language=en}}</ref> However, Bannikov (2004) determined it to be not closely related to any modern percomorph group, and placed it in its own family Eocottidae alongside ''Bassanichthys''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bannikov |first=Alexandre F. |date=2004 |title=EOCOTTIDAE, A NEW FAMILY OF PERCIFORM FISHES (TELEOSTEI) FROM THE EOCENE OF NORTHERN ITALY (BOLCA) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/profile/A-Bannikov/publication/281106269_Eocottidae_a_new_family_of_perciform_fishes_Teleostei_from_the_Eocene_of_northern_Italy_Bolca/links/55d5b32008ae9d659487a4fe/Eocottidae-a-new-family-of-perciform-fishes-Teleostei-from-the-Eocene-of-northern-Italy-Bolca.pdf |journal=Stud. Ric. Giacim. Terz. Bolca. Verona |volume=10 |pages=17-35}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Bannikov |first=A. F. |date=2006-05-01 |title=Bassanichthys, a new replacement generic name for the Eocene fish Bassania Bannikov, 2004 (Teleostei, Perciformes) |url=https://link.springer.com/article/10.1134/S0031030106030166 |journal=Paleontological Journal |language=en |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=340–340 |doi=10.1134/S0031030106030166 |issn=1555-6174}}</ref> Eocottidae may potentially belong to the Perciformes, although this is uncertain.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Laan |first=Richard van der |date=2018-10-11 |title=Family-group names of fossil fishes |url=https://europeanjournaloftaxonomy.eu/index.php/ejt/article/view/597 |journal=European Journal of Taxonomy |language=en |issue=466 |doi=10.5852/ejt.2018.466 |issn=2118-9773|doi-access=free }}</ref>

==See also== {{Portal|Paleontology|Fish}} * Prehistoric fish * List of prehistoric bony fish

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Prehistoric percomorph genera Category:Monotypic prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Category:Eocene fish of Europe Category:Ypresian genera Category:Fossils of Italy Category:Fossil taxa described in 1901 Category:Taxa named by Arthur Smith Woodward