This little fishy

[thelivingdead531]

Well, @snolly50, it took a couple more days than I originally said, but I finally got a close up look at my fishes. After looking over the text you provided and doing a lot of counting, it appears that mine are, indeed, Knightia alta. While I’m a little disappointed, I’m not heartbroken since I did not have that species in my collection before. Oh well, live and learn. 

[snolly50]

On 2/28/2019 at 5:41 AM, thelivingdead531 said:

Well, @snolly50, it took a couple more days than I originally said, but I finally got a close up look at my fishes. After looking over the text you provided and doing a lot of counting, it appears that mine are, indeed, Knightia alta. While I’m a little disappointed, I’m not heartbroken since I did not have that species in my collection before. Oh well, live and learn. 

Your intrepid exploration inspired me to remove the only mortality plate I possess from its display case. Then I had to dig out the attribution data I had recorded. This is a slab with fish on both sides. It has been in my greedy clutches for over 30 years. Parenthetically, you will note by the # on the slab's sticker I only had 31 fossil specimens, when this piece was acquired. That was a long time ago. I always thought of it as displaying the untimely demise of a school of Gosiutichthys. However, my sparse records assert otherwise. They read; Knightia eoceana, Green River Formation, Sweetwater County, Wyoming. It is my understanding that Sweetwater County contains Lake Gosiute material. The plot thickens. These are very small fishes. Are they juvenile Knightia or was the ID mistaken? There is also the possibility that both types of critter are represented. They are much too small for me to do any accurate "counting." I suspect when curiosity drives me; I will pop the slab under my 'scope and see if I can find one well enough preserved to make a determination. Until that motivation strikes, I thought I would post their mug shots to see if anyone had a strong inclination as to their identity.

 

@aerogrower Love that fossil cube!

 

 

 

[Fossildude19]

On 2/26/2019 at 8:05 AM, snolly50 said:

This is an excellent question as your specimen seems to belie some assertions of the discussion above. Fortunately, since your piece is in hand, you can do the diagnostic scrutiny. But first the tool that you (and anyone interested in Green River fish) require. It's FREE! A miracle of the Internet age! Here is a link to download Grande's wonderful book.

 

sales.wsgs.wyo.gov/paleontology-of-the-green-river-formation-with-a-review-of-the-fish-fauna-2d-ed-1984/ Edit: sorry see below.

 

Here is a scan I made of a relevant page. There is much more info in the text proper, detailing the characteristics of each species.

 

 

Sorry about the quality, I was in a hurry. Please post your findings here. I do think it will be interesting. I too have a mortality plate covered in tiny fish. On the reverse of that plate are several decent sized Knightia. It is similar to your piece except the small fish are very small. I will try and post it later. Good luck, have fun.

 

This is the one I used, and counted vertebra.

This is from the Second Edition.

 

 

 

[snolly50]

10 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

This is from the Second Edition.

 

Thanks, Tim! As it should be, classification gets more complex, but also more precise; as time, experience and new discoveries move forward. 

[Fossildude19]

7 minutes ago, snolly50 said:

Thanks, Tim! As it should be, classification gets more complex, but also more precise; as time, experience and new discoveries move forward. 

 

[thelivingdead531]

On 3/2/2019 at 8:46 PM, snolly50 said:

Your intrepid exploration inspired me to remove the only mortality plate I possess from its display case. Then I had to dig out the attribution data I had recorded. This is a slab with fish on both sides. It has been in my greedy clutches for over 30 years. Parenthetically, you will note by the # on the slab's sticker I only had 31 fossil specimens, when this piece was acquired. That was a long time ago. I always thought of it as displaying the untimely demise of a school of Gosiutichthys. However, my sparse records assert otherwise. They read; Knightia eoceana, Green River Formation, Sweetwater County, Wyoming. It is my understanding that Sweetwater County contains Lake Gosiute material. The plot thickens. These are very small fishes. Are they juvenile Knightia or was the ID mistaken? There is also the possibility that both types of critter are represented. They are much too small for me to do any accurate "counting." I suspect when curiosity drives me; I will pop the slab under my 'scope and see if I can find one well enough preserved to make a determination. Until that motivation strikes, I thought I would post their mug shots to see if anyone had a strong inclination as to their identity.

That is a very lovely plate of fish! I hope that one day you can confirm a more precise identity on them. Although my fish weren’t as tiny, I still needed to get my loupe out to get a decent look and count. I hope yours are better preserved than mine. Good luck if your quest for answers!