Eospinus

{{Short description|Species of fish}} {{Speciesbox | name = | image = Eospinus daniltshenkoi.jpg | image_caption = Life restoration of ''E. daniltshenkoi'' | fossil_range = {{fossil range|56|55|Earliest Ypresian}} | grandparent_authority = Santini & Tyler, 2002<ref name="SantiniTyler2003">{{cite journal|first1=Francesco|last1=Santini|first2=James C.|last2=Tyler|year=2003|title=A phylogeny of the families of fossil and extant tetraodontiform fishes (Acanthomorpha, Tetraodontiformes), Upper Cretaceous to Recent|journal=Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society|volume=139|issue=4 |pages=565–617|doi=10.1111/j.1096-3642.2003.00088.x|doi-access=free}}</ref> | parent_authority = Tyler & Bannikov, 1992 | taxon = Eospinus daniltshenkoi | authority = Tyler & Bannikov, 1992 }}

'''''Eospinus''''' ("dawn spine") is an extinct genus of bizarre marine tetraodontiform fish from the Eocene.<ref>{{Cite web |title=PBDB Taxon |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=36294 |access-date=2025-01-21 |website=paleobiodb.org}}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Tyler |first=James C. |last2=Bannikov |first2=Alexandre F. |date=1992 |title=Remarkable New Genus of Tetraodontiform Fish with Features of Both Balistids and Ostraciids from the Eocene of Turkmenistan |url=https://doi.org/10.5479/si.00810266.72.1 |journal=Smithsonian Contributions to Paleobiology |issue=72 |pages=1–14 |doi=10.5479/si.00810266.72.1 |issn=0081-0266}}</ref> It is known from the earliest Ypresian-aged<ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Bannikov |first1=A. F. |last2=Erebakan |first2=I. G. |date=2023-10-01 |title=On the Evolution of Some Groups of Marine Bony Fishes in the Cenozoic of the Tethys and Paratethys |journal=Paleontological Journal |language=en |volume=57 |issue=5 |pages=475–490 |bibcode=2023PalJ...57..475B |doi=10.1134/S0031030123050015 |issn=1555-6174}}</ref> Danata Formation lagerstatten of Turkmenistan. The species name honors paleoichthyologist Pavel G. Daniltshenko (also Danilchenko), who described numerous fossil fish from Russia and neighboring countries.<ref name=":1" />

''Eospinus'' had a highly unusual appearance. It had four dorsal spines, three of which were on the anterior end of its dorsal side, and the first spine being placed between and below the eyes, almost like a long nose. It also had a pair of spines near the base of its caudal peduncle, and a spine in front of the anal fin.<ref name=":1" />

In 2002, and confirmed again in 2003, Santini and Tyler erected the family Bolcabalistidae to contain both ''Eospinus'' and the genus ''Bolcabalistes'' from Monte Bolca as close relatives of both triggerfishes and boxfishes.<ref name=tylersantini2002>Tyler, JAMES C., and F. R. A. N. C. E. S. C. O. Santini. "Review and reconstructions of the tetraodontiform fishes from the Eocene of Monte Bolca, Italy, with comments on related Tertiary taxa." Studi e ricerche sui giacimenti terziari di Bolca 9 (2002): 47-119.</ref> The similar ''Moclaybalistes'' of Ypresian Denmark was originally also placed in Bolcabalistidae, too, in 2002, but then move it into its own monotypic family of Moclaybalistidae.<ref name="SantiniTyler2003" />

''Eospinus'' inhabited the northeastern Tethys Ocean. Its morphology suggests a slow-moving benthic lifestyle likely associated with reefs, as with many modern tetraodontiforms.<ref name=":1" />

==See also== {{Portal|Paleontology}} * List of prehistoric bony fish * ''Spinacanthus'' * ''Protobalistum''

==Sources== {{Reflist}} *[http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/1992/1/SCtP-0072-Hi_res.pdf A remarkable new genus of Tetraodontiform fish with features of both Balistids and Ostraciids from the Eocene of Turkmenistan] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110718101920/http://si-pddr.si.edu/dspace/bitstream/10088/1992/1/SCtP-0072-Hi_res.pdf |date=2011-07-18 }}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q5381950}} {{Authority control}} Category:Monotypic prehistoric ray-finned fish genera Category:Prehistoric percomorph genera Category:Tetraodontiformes Category:Transitional fossils Category:Ypresian genera Category:Eocene fish of Asia Category:Fossils of Turkmenistan Category:Fossil taxa described in 1992