Abisaadia hakelensis (DAVIS, 1887)

Taxonomy

Eel

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata Haeckel 1874
Class: Actinopteri Cope 1871
Order: Anguilliformes Greenwood et al. 1966
Family: Urenchelyidae Hay 1903
Genus: Abisaadia
Species: Abisaadia hakelensis
Author Citation (DAVIS, 1887)

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Mesozoic
Period: Cretaceous
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Late
International Age: Cenomanian

Stratigraphy

Sannine Formation

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Length: 8 cm

Location

Hgula
Byblos (Jbeil)
Mount Lebanon
Lebanon

• abisaadia
• cretaceous
• hgula
• lebanon
• sannine formation
• urenchelys

Comments

Taxonomy from GBIF.org.

Alternative combination: Urenchelys hakelensis (Davis, 1887)
Diagnosis translated by oilshale from French (Belouze et al. 2003 p. 367): “Very small anguillimorph fish with about 100 vertebrae clearly taller than long; length ratio between neurocranial roof and total length about 10; head high posteriorly and tapering anteriorly; premaxillae not fused to mesethmovomer; frontals not fused to sensory commissure. anteriorly; premaxillae not fused to the mesethmovomer; frontals not fused and without sensory commissure frontal; parietals very developed; high suspensorium ; ectopterygoid absent; very robust mandible with dental and articulo-angulo-articular joint welded at least laterally and without marked coronoid process; subopercle with bent anterodorsal branch; robust hyoid arch supporting at least 15 branchiosteal at least 15 very long gill rays; first caudal vertebrae without neural spines; undulated neural and hemipeles wavy; pectoral girdle with long, thin cleithra and high pectoral fins; robust caudal fin not continuous with otherwise poorly ossified dorsal and anal fins; LDFF = enPU5/7 and LAFF = ehPU4/8”
Line drawing from Belouze et al. 2003, p. 368:

Identified by Mr. AbiSaad, owner of the Hgula deposit.
References:
Davis, J.W. (1887). On the Fossil Fishes of the Chalk of Mount Lebanon in Syria. Scientific Transactions of the Royal Dublin Society 48 (2), 624–626.
Belouze, A., Gayet, M. and Atallah, C. (2003) Les premiers Anguilliformes : II. Paraphylie du genre Urenchelys WOODWARD, 1900 et relations phylogénétiques. Geobios, Volume 36, Issue 4, Pages 351-378.