Texas Eocene Fish Otoliths

[jkfoam]

I'll never forget my first trip to Whiskey Bridge (Texas most famous Eocene fossil site) as a fairly new fossil collector back in the early 1970's. I was part of a group of fossil collectors from Houston, TX. After collecting a short while I asked a fellow collector about several small pebble sized fossils I had found but did not recognize what they were. “Oh” they replied, “Those are fish otoliths or fish ear stones. You'll find two different types here. The one with the straight channel or line on them called is called Ekokenia eporrecta and the other with the curved channel or line on them is called Corvina gemma”. So, for ever after that's what I called them. WRONG, on one account.

For some reason these small vertebrate fossils always intrigued me (I don't know why because vertebrate fossils generally don't hold much interest for me). Well, I was able to obtain some poor xerox copies of some of the literature that describes these otoliths but the copies of the plates were very inadequate. They were adequate enough for me to realize that there were not just two species of fish otoliths to be had but probably several others. Not being able to make progress in ID'ing additional species I just filed everything away.

Recently, I had cause to renew my interest and I was able to get and see better copies of several references dealing with Eocene fish otoliths. Thanks JSTOR and Biodiversity Heritage Library. In a close reading of the newest reference, “Otoliths of Some Early Cenozoic Fishes of the Gulf Coast”, by D.L. Frizzell and J.H. Dante, they say that C. gemma is only found in the Oligocene and is not present in the Eocene. That being true then C. gemma should not be found in the Texas Eocene.

So, What is that thing I've been calling C. gemma? The Frizzell article describes two candidates. One is Jefitchia coplandi and the other is Corvina intermedia. Going back through my collection Texas Eocene otoliths I had labeled as C. gemma I found that I indeed have both the J. copelandi and the C. intermedia. Now they are separated and labeled, hopefully, correctly. I say “hopefully” because I am not totally sure of my ID's. If a fellow board member is knowledgeable about otoliths or even somewhat knowledgeable I would appreciate their input.

Shown below are photographs of each of the otolith species so you can see how I was able to differentiate between them.

Jim

[kurosaki]

Hello Jim,

I happened to find your post on this page, I am a student working on both Recent and fossil otoliths. You have some great otolith specimens!

It is nice that you got the most relevant reference written by Frizzell and Dante, but actually their taxonomic assignments are obsolete, and most of the names have been changed. I strongly recommend that you refer to Nolf (2013), the latest atlas on the fossil otoliths, if you are really into recognizing your otoliths. In this large book, you will find extensive illustrations and how they are being synonymized, and many others.

I agree with you that there are no otoliths of gemma (now called Aplodinotus gemma Koken, 1888; see Nolf, 2003) in your Eocene material.

Nolf D., 2003. Revision of the American otolith-based fish species described by Koken in 1888. Louisiana Geological Survey, Geological Pamphlet No. 12.

Nolf, D., 2013. The diversity of fish otoliths, past and present. Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, Brussels.

Again, I am glad that you are interested in studying otoliths.

[doushantuo]

All of you would do well to look up the efforts of either Bettina Reichenbacher or Martin Schwarzhans.

Schwarzhans has an extensive RG page.

Edited June 3, 2016 by doushantuo

[sixgill pete]

Jim thanks for posting this, and kurosaki thank you for the recent information. Looks like I need to go back through my Whiskey Bridge otoliths.

[jkfoam]

Kurosaki,

Thank you for the information and the references by D. Nolf. I was able to find the 2003, "Revision of the American Otolith-Based Fish Species Described by Koken in 1888" available on-line. However, the 2013 reference is not available for free, and the nearest library to me that has a copy is 1100 miles away. I couldn't even find a copy for sale.

I have a pair of otoliths I need some help with and perhaps you can provide it. They are the largest otoliths I have ever found measuring 20 x15 mm. Additionally they are a translucent cream white color rather than our typical tan-brown color and they have a luster similar to common opal. I have tentatively identified them as Corvina pseudoradians from Frizell's publication but he says they are an Oligocene otolith and these are from the texas Eocene. I will send you a picture of them as soon as I figure out how to get a photo that will show the sulcus detail.

Thanks again

Jim

[kurosaki]

Jim, the 2013 book is not available online, perhaps you can find a way to get this by the following link:

http://shark-references.com/post/571

but anyway I am not responsible to sell it (it is quite expensive).

I will be happy to see your large specimens.

By the way, there is another reference (available free online): Late Eocene (Priabonian) fish otoliths from the Yazoo Clay at Copenhagen, Louisiana by D. Nolf & G. Stringer (2003)

doushantuo, you really are working very hard on reading otolith references!

Both Dr. Reichenbacher and Schwarzhans are prolific researchers, but unfortunately neither of them works on the Eocene of the gulf coast. If you want to id certain otoliths, it is always better to focus on regional reports. That said, the related strata, age, sedimentary facies and geographic area, etc. For example, the extensive Miocene North Sea otoliths and various others (by Schwarzhans) and freshwater otolith-based taxa (by Reichenbacher) have nothing to do with the concerned Eocene otoliths.

I recommend reading the Introduction part in Nolf & Stringer (2003) which gives a literature review of the otoliths of the Eocene gulf coast area.

[squali]

Great thread. Does anyone have references for Cretaceous otoliths? I know that Dr. Gary Stringer was working on a paper but I can't find it anywhere in the public domain. Not that I am the greatest researcher. Thanks for any help.

[doushantuo]

US otoliths?Or just "Cretaceous"?

[squali]

New Jersey is what Dr. Stringer was working on. I can't access the 'otoliths of the English Cretaceous in the TFF references either.

I have quite a few otoliths from the Campanian of New Jersey and am trying to get a better grip on their ID's

Thanks

[doushantuo]

https://www.palass.org/publications/palaeontology-journal/archive/16/2/article_pp293-305

This ought to work,Squal

This is not about otoliths per se,but ...

http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:723364/FULLTEXT02.pdf

Edited June 6, 2016 by doushantuo

[squali]

Thank You