# Protobalistum

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{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|55.8|40.4|Early- Middle [Eocene](/source/Eocene)<ref name="sepkoskidb">{{cite journal | last = Sepkoski | first = Jack | title =  A compendium of fossil marine animal genera | journal = Bulletins of American Paleontology | volume = 364 |page=560 | year = 2002 | url = http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class | accessdate = 2009-02-27 }}</ref>}}
| image= Protobalistium_imperiale_2.jpg
| image2 = Protobalisum_imperiale.jpg
| image2_caption = Artist's reconstruction
| taxon = Protobalistum
| type_species = †''Protobalistum imperiale''
| authority = Massalongo, 1857
}}

'''''Protobalistum imperiale''''' is an extinct prehistoric [tetraodontid](/source/tetraodontiformes) [bony fish](/source/bony_fish) that lived from the [Lutetian](/source/Lutetian) [epoch](/source/Epoch_(geology)) of [Eocene](/source/Eocene) [Monte Bolca](/source/Monte_Bolca).<ref name="sepkoskidb">{{cite journal | last = Sepkoski | first = Jack | title =  A compendium of fossil marine animal genera | journal = Bulletins of American Paleontology | volume = 364 |page=560 | year = 2002 | url = http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class | accessdate = 2009-02-27 }}</ref>

In life, it would have resembled a compressed boxfish with five massive spines along the anterior-dorsal side, with the longest spine directly above the forehead, and the shortest spine directly in front of the dorsal fin.  It is distinguished from its close, [sympatric](/source/sympatric) relative, ''[Spinacanthus](/source/Spinacanthus)'', in that its scales are large, and form a sort of armor.  (In ''S. cuneiformis'', the individual scales are relatively small, and do not touch each other).

''Protobalistum imperiale'' and ''Spinacanthus'' were a part of the ecosystem of the lagoon that would become Monte Bolca.  It has been suggested that, because of their similarity to [boxfish](/source/boxfish), and due to their close relation to modern-day [triggerfish](/source/triggerfish), spinacanthids may have preyed on shellfish and small fish.

==See also==
{{Portal|Paleontology|Fish}}
* ''[Spinacanthus](/source/Spinacanthus)'', its closest relative, lived [sympatrically](/source/Sympatry) with ''Protobalistum''
* ''[Eospinus](/source/Eospinus)'', another close relative from the Earliest Eocene of [Turkmenistan](/source/Turkmenistan)
* ''[Eolactoria](/source/Eolactoria)'', another extinct tetraodontid from Monte Bolca
* ''[Proaracana](/source/Proaracana)'', another extinct tetraodontid from Monte Bolca
* [Prehistoric fish](/source/Prehistoric_fish)
* [List of prehistoric bony fish](/source/List_of_prehistoric_bony_fish)

==References==
*[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] (contains a brief discussion and description of Spinacanthidae)

{{Reflist}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q7251892}}

Category:Spinacanthidae
Category:Fossils of Italy

{{paleo-tetraodontiformes-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Protobalistum](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protobalistum) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protobalistum?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.