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Taxonomy from Fossilworks.com Diagnosis from Danil'chenko 1960, p. 29: "Trunk height equal to length of 24-26 midlength vertebrae. Ventral profile of body rises sharply, almost at right angle at beginning of caudal region, where the body height decreases to approximately one half. Body height in vertical with anterior ray of anal fin corresponding to only 35-40% of the maximum body height and equal to the length of 10-11 vertebrae. Maximum body height 1.5 times head length; latter equal to the length of 15-16 anterior vertebrae. Mouth slit oblique, forming angle of 50-60° with the longitudinal body axis. Upper jaw composed of short premaxilla and long, posteriorly widened maxilla, which is somewhat curved ventrally and reaches the vertical from the eye center. Lower jaw wide, slightly protruding forward with respect to the upper, connected with quadrate opposite the eye center. Teeth small on both jaws but larger on maxilla than on premaxilla and dentary. Parasphenoid thin, bent sharply upward posteriorly, projecting below the orbit. Preopercular narrow, straight dorsally, ventrally bent at right angle forward, forming short horizontal branch which almost reached the posterior edge of the upper jaw. Opercular narrower than orbital diameter. Vertebrae short, almost square, with slight median constriction. Ribs 7-8 pairs, from 3-4 to 10 vertebrae inclusively. Ribs large, slightly curved, almost square, very long, ending just above the ventral margin, ventrally joined by wide bony plates. Length of rib from middle part of trunk region equal to about 65% of the length of the vertebral column. Trunk neurapophyses deflected slightly backward, firmly united with the solid interapophyses of the first dorsal fin. Neural spines of anterior part of caudal region lanceolate in form, almost perpendicular to the axis of the vertebral column. Lanceolate widening more conspicuous in hemapophyses of anterior part of caudal region of vertebral column between the 1st and 10th caudal vertebrae; here the hemapophyses are united by the lateral edges, and their acute ventral ends reach the interapophyses of the anal fin. Neurapophyses of anterior part of caudal region normal in structure, deflected backward at an angle of 40 — 50° to the vertebral column." Line drawing from Danil'chenko 1960, p. 30: Identified by oilshale using Jerzmanska 1968. References: Cosmovici, L. C. & Paucã, M., (1943) Ein neuer fossiler Fisch mit erhaltenen Leuchtorganen: Argyropelecus cosmovicii sowie Erwägungen der Ablagerung der Menilitschiefer. Bulletin de la Section Scientifique Académie Roumaine, 26: 271–280. Danil'chenko, P. G., (1960) Bony fishes of the Maikop deposits of the Caucasus. Trudy Paleontologicheskogo Instituta 78:1-247. Jerzmanska, A., (1968) Ichtyofaune des couches a ménilite (flysch des Karpathes). Acta Palaeontologica Polonica 13(3):379-488. Kotlarczyk, J., Jerzmañska, A., Swidnicka, E. & Wiszniowska, T. (2006) A framework of ichthyofaunal ecostratigraphy of the Oligocene–Early Miocene strata of the Polish Outer Carpathian basin. Annales Societatis Geologorum Poloniae, 76: 1–111.

Taxonomy according to fossilworks.org. Description from DAVID 1943, p. 11: “Length of head 37,5% to 41%, depth of head 43,8% to 58.8%, depth of body 50% to 63.8% of length of body. Vertebrae 38; 2 small abdominal spines; 12 abdominal lanterns; 3 + ? postabdominal lanterns. Supraneurals project above body for a distance equal to four-fifths of base of dorsal fin. D. =9; A. = 12.” Line drawing from DAVID 1943, p. 60: Photo of a recent Atlantic silver hatchetfish ( Argyropelecus aculeatus) from Wikipedia by SEFSC Pascagoula Laboratory; Collection of Brandi Noble, NOAA/NMFS/SEFSC: Identified by oilshale using David, 1943. References: David, L. R. (1943): Miocene Fishes of Southern California. Geological Society of America Special Paper 43:1-187. Fierstine, H. L., Huddleston R. W., and Takeuchi, G. T. (2012): Catalog of the Neogene bony fishes of California: A ystematic inventory of all published accounts. Occasional Papers of the California Academy of Sciences 159:1-206.