Hayenchelys germanus BELOUZE, GAYET & ATALLAH, 2003

Taxonomy

Eel

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopteri Cope 1871
Order: Anguilliformes Goodrich 1909
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Hayenchelys
Species: Hayenchelys germanus
Author Citation BELOUZE, GAYET & ATALLAH, 2003

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: 14 cm

Location

Haqel
Jbeil District
Mount Lebanon Governorate
Lebanon

• cretaceous
• hakel
• hayenchelys
• lebanon
• tff-oilshale-ch2334
• urenchelys

Comments

Outdated name: "Urenchelys" germanus HAY, 1903.

From Wikipedia: "This genus is interesting as comprising the oldest known eels, which differ from all the tertiary and existing eels in still retaining the caudal fin. Teeth small, bluntly conical, and arranged in numerous series. Slender branchiostegal rays not curving round the opercular apparatus. Vertebrae exceeding 100 in number, the hindermost bearing a pair of expanded hypural bones. Pectoral fins present; dorsal fins arising immediately behind the occiput and extending to the caudal fin, which has stouter rays and is very small but separate. Scales rudimentary."

Diagnosis translated by oilshale from French (Belouze et al. 2003, p. 353): "Anguillimorphic fish with about 102 vertebrae; heavily ossified head with massive cleithra and numerous pectoral rays; mesethmoid, separate vomer and premaxillae and paired rostral toothed plates; unwelded frontals with deep groove for supraorbital sensory canal; small supraoccipital and epiotics excluded from participation in cranial roof; palatopterygoid arch with long ecto- and entopterygoids, intimately connected to the other elements of the suspensorium; massive mandible with autogenous articuloanguloretroarticular and rounded posterolateral termination of the dentary; coronomeckelian reduced and not enclosed by the median fork of the dentary; posterior end of maxilla massive and quadrangular; multiseriate teeth numerous and small; about 13 branchiosteal rays and urohyal (bifid?) with corded head; absence of pelvic fins; caudal fin very close to dorsal and anal fins (LDFF around enPU2 and LAFF around ehPU3); 11 ventral caudal rays, 12 dorsal; first preural vertebra with neural spine."

Identified by Dr. Norbert Micklich, Hessisches Landesmuseum Darmstadt (HLMD).

References:

Anne Belouze, Mireille Gayet & Claude Atallah (2003) Les premiers Anguilliformes : II. Paraphylie du genre Urenchelys WOODWARD, 1900 et relations phylogénétiques. Geobios 36(4):351-378.