Fish Otoliths

[TNCollector]

Hello all,

 

Are these fish otoliths? I have been finding a ton of them in my Oligocene spots in MS, and never really knew what they were. I decided to do some research and I see some resemblance wiht fish otoliths. Almost all of the vertebrate bits I find here are black, so I didn't think they could be bone, but perhaps the mineralization is different on these otoliths.

 

I apologize for the bad photos. I am away visiting family and do not have my microscope. All specimens are less than 1cm.

 

Oligocene Marine

Mississippi

[FossilGuy1024]

Yes, you are correct. As far as I can tell they're all otoliths. I have found many in the Eocene of Texas.

 

Cheers

[Fossildude19]

I agree - nice ones, too. 

Nice finds, Jim. 

Regards,

[TNCollector]

1 minute ago, FossilGuy1024 said:

Yes, you are correct. As far as I can tell they're all otoliths. I have found many in the Eocene of Texas.

 

Cheers

 

Just now, Fossildude19 said:

I agree - nice ones, too. 

Nice finds, Jim. 

Regards,

 

Thanks for the help fellas! There are so many of them in this matrix. The ones in the pictures came from less than a cubic foot of matrix. I guess I ought to start narrowing the IDs down.

 

Does anyone know of any literature on Oligocene saltwater otoliths?

[Fossildude19]

You can start your searching here.  

[Bone Daddy]

Nice finds.

 

Here are a couple of otoliths I got in a trade with a collector in Wisconsin. I do not recall offhand what species they are.

 

[TNCollector]

Nice ones @Bone Daddy! The largest one that I have from this site is about the size of yours. I have been going through my collection and finding some items that I thought were shells but are actually otoliths. 

[Bone Daddy]

 

37 minutes ago, TNCollector said:

Nice ones @Bone Daddy! The largest one that I have from this site is about the size of yours. I have been going through my collection and finding some items that I thought were shells but are actually otoliths. 

 

If I had seen these laying the sand, or if they had turned up in my sifter, I would have had no idea what they are. They are pretty cool though once you know what they are.

 

[doushantuo]

Fish otoliths are very useful in ecological-,population-. and biogeography studies

 

darnautruempiscesotolisotogeochemosteologyecolnetherlanorthseaPLOSMouillofile.pdf

[doushantuo]

more:

 

fabletpiscesanatomyploshortotolith.pdf

[doushantuo]

sweetinpiscotolicrystallineotoliths2005.pdf

[doushantuo]

from a prestigious journal:

 

woydackpiscesotoliths.pdf

[doushantuo]

Three otolith articles in this SM issue

 

sardinesolekilli

 

[Al Dente]

9 hours ago, Bone Daddy said:

Nice finds.

 

Here are a couple of otoliths I got in a trade with a collector in Wisconsin. I do not recall offhand what species they are.

 

 

These are from a modern freshwater drum Aplodinotus grunniens. They are commonly referred to as Lucky Stones. I've had people tell me the L shaped groove stands for luck.

[Al Dente]

TNCollector-

Otoliths are made of different material than bone, that is why they are usually a different color. Most otoliths are aragonite with a little bit of organic material. Aragonite is not very stable so they will leach out of most most sediment if given enough time. Usually if there is abundant shell material preserved, you will also find otoliths.

[doushantuo]

herringvateri

[Bone Daddy]

4 hours ago, Al Dente said:

 

These are from a modern freshwater drum Aplodinotus grunniens. They are commonly referred to as Lucky Stones. I've had people tell me the L shaped groove stands for luck.

 

Thanks Al!  That rings a bell. I remember he mentioned that it was a modern freshwater fish. I didn't know about the Lucky Stone aspect. That is pretty cool.

 

[TNCollector]

6 hours ago, Al Dente said:

TNCollector-

Otoliths are made of different material than bone, that is why they are usually a different color. Most otoliths are aragonite with a little bit of organic material. Aragonite is not very stable so they will leach out of most most sediment if given enough time. Usually if there is abundant shell material preserved, you will also find otoliths.

Ahhh this makes complete sense! This is what the matrix looks like. I went through it again yesterday and found many more otoliths. They are pretty interesting fossils, and although I haven't id'ed them all yet, it appears that there are many species represented by the different shaped otoliths.

I'm gonna go back to the site soon and get some more matrix to go through!