Stromerichthys

{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}} {{Speciesbox | fossil_range = {{fossilrange|100|95|Cenomanian<ref name="sepkoskidb"/>}} | display_parents = 2 | taxon = Stromerichthys aethiopicus | authority = Weiler, 1935 | parent_authority = Weiler, 1935 }}

'''''Stromerichthys''''' ("Stromer's fish") is an extinct genus of potentially chimaeric freshwater bony fish that lived during the Late Cretaceous epoch. It contains a single species, '''''S. aethiopicus''''', described from a now-lost specimen with bones & scales from Egypt.<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|isbn=0-87710-450-6}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=PBDB Taxon |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/basicTaxonInfo?taxon_no=35218 |access-date=2024-09-27 |website=paleobiodb.org}}</ref>

It was initially described as an amiiform related to the modern bowfin from scales and skeletal remains recovered in the Cenomanian-aged Bahariya Formation of Egypt; this type specimen was later destroyed during the bombing of the Palaeontological Museum, Munich in World War II. Later, isolated scales assigned to ''Stromerichthys'' were recovered from the earlier Cenomanian of southern Europe (Portugal, France & Spain), and the Albian of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pimentel |first1=Ricardo |last2=Barroso-Barcenilla |first2=Fernando |last3=Berrocal-Casero |first3=Mélani |last4=Callapez |first4=Pedro Miguel |last5=Ozkaya de Juanas |first5=Senay |last6=dos Santos |first6=Vanda F. |date=2023 |title=On the Occurrence of the Gar Obaichthys africanus Grande in the Cretaceous of Portugal: Palaeoecological and Palaeobiogeographical Implications |journal=Geosciences |language=en |volume=13 |issue=12 |page=372 |doi=10.3390/geosciences13120372 |bibcode=2023Geosc..13..372P |issn=2076-3263 |doi-access=free}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite journal |last1=Cavin |first1=Lionel |last2=Boudad |first2=Larbi |last3=Tong |first3=Haiyan |last4=Läng |first4=Emilie |last5=Tabouelle |first5=Jérôme |last6=Vullo |first6=Romain |date=2015-05-27 |title=Taxonomic Composition and Trophic Structure of the Continental Bony Fish Assemblage from the Early Late Cretaceous of Southeastern Morocco |journal=PLOS ONE |language=en |volume=10 |issue=5 |article-number=e0125786 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0125786 |issn=1932-6203 |pmc=4446216 |pmid=26018561 |bibcode=2015PLoSO..1025786C |doi-access=free}}</ref>

In 2015, Cavin ''et al'' found ''Stromerichthys'' to most likely be a chimera (a fossil taxon erected on a mixture of different taxa), with the skeletal remains of the type specimen likely belonging to the giant bichir ''Bawitius'' & a mawsoniid coelacanth, while the scales found with the type specimen and throughout Europe & Africa belonged to the extinct gar relative ''Obaichthys''. The destruction of the type specimen means that ''Bawitius'' or ''Obaichthys'' cannot be considered junior synonyms of ''Stromerichthys'', and it is thus likely an invalid genus.<ref name=":0" />

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

==References== {{Reflist}}

Category:Monotypic prehistoric bony fish genera Category:Paleontological chimeras Category:Nomina dubia Category:Cretaceous bony fish Category:Late Cretaceous fish of Africa Category:Cenomanian genera Category:Bahariya Formation Category:Fossil taxa described in 1935