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Tiny little fish


minnbuckeye

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A nice surprise happened last night as I was putting my best fish finds away from a trip to Sseth's quarry in Kemmerer, Wyoming last summer. I accidentally dropped a nice Knightia and while piking  up the broken pieces, this is what was hiding inside!!! Almost didn't see I due to the tiny size. Any thoughts to species??

 

DSC_0266-001.JPG.d595e271eda26dc4c19e17b09b21335d.JPG

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Well, i'm not an expert for Kemmerer / Green River, but i would think it's somwhat as a perch (Percoidea) judging from the Spikes on the back...

Let's see what @sseth will tell..

 

 

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I think this is the correct orientation; hard to tell.

~~.jpg

"There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant

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>May your wonders never cease!

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Cool find. :) 

 

This is the proper orientation, as the vertebral attachment to the skull is usually situated in the top 1/3 of the skull. 

This combined with the fin placements convince me of this orientation. 

 

 

5adf2e292f1d2_.jpg.ffedd3a8a392b495641f7c63da35c002 (1).jpg

 

I think with the spiked fin rays, we can conclude this is a Cockerellites liops  (formerly Priscacara liops) fry. :) 

Excellent find from a heartbreaking loss. 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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You just beat me to identifying the proper orientation with a helpful diagram!  However, I am not sure that I agree with your ID.  If what I am seeing is correct, the spiny dorsal fin (A) is distinctly separated from the soft dorsal fin (B).  Which would, if I am not mistaken, place it more related to perch and darters.  Perhaps @Peat Burns could help?

perch perhaps.png

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1 hour ago, Cowboy Paleontologist said:

You just beat me to identifying the proper orientation with a helpful diagram!  However, I am not sure that I agree with your ID.  If what I am seeing is correct, the spiny dorsal fin (A) is distinctly separated from the soft dorsal fin (B).  Which would, if I am not mistaken, place it more related to perch and darters.  Perhaps @Peat Burns could help?

@Nimravis may be able to help out as well. 

 

Without being able to actually count the fin rays, there could be an argument made for it being a Juvenile Mioplosus

Priscacara (Cockerellites) is a Percoid  as is Mioplosus. 

 

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes
Family: Percidae
Genus: Priscacara
Cope 1877

 

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Subphylum: Vertebrata
Infraphylum: Gnathostomata
Superclass: Osteichthyes
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Perciformes[2]
Family: Percidae
Genus: Mioplosus

 

 

Here is an image where I reversed the black and whites: 

 

   RevDSC_0266-001.JPG

 

REVERDSC_0266-001.JPG

 

It is unclear, (at least, it is to me) if the "dorsal fins"  are indeed separated.  :headscratch::shrug: :unsure:

The leading soft rays  could be missing, folded over, or depressed down.

The pterygiophores are not visible to me, so no real help from those.

 

The only thing that led me to the Priscacara id was the shortness and depth of the body.

 

Either way, it could be labeled Percidae indet. juvenile/fry. :) 

 

Cool Fossil! 

 

 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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Comparison of the two with the fish in question.

 

Priskyfry-vertbw.jpg

 

The hard spikes on the anal fin are more evocative of the Priscacara spines, in my opinion. 

    Tim    -  VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER

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__________________________________________________
"In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks."

John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~   ><))))( *>  About Me      

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I agree with the others  that Mioplosus and Cockerellites are good candidates and would lean a bit towards the latter.

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The image of the juvenile Cockerellites helps.  I would probably agree that this is the most likely candidate.

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Awesome little fish. More and more I think about making a trip to one of those fish quarries.

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Thanks for all of the thoughtful info! Heck, I couldn't even tell up from down. Notice one picture is oriented the opposite of the other picture. That way, at least once the orientation was correct!!  The fish is so small, I can't even tell if I could remove a bit of matrix. I should have one of our micro matrix people clean it for me!!!!

 

 Mike

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