Cretaceous NJ (fish?) vertebra ID help..

[frankh8147]

I found this vertebra last week in a Cretaceous deposit in Monmouth County New Jersey. It measures a shade under an inch and is a lot bigger than the normal fish vert I usually find here so I wanted to ask - is there a way to tell the difference between Enchodus and Xiphactiuns vetus? My initial thought was Enchodus but I didn't see any examples online that looked like this one.

 

Also, any recommendation on how I should prep this? I only showed one side because the rest of this is embedded in the matrix. I currently use really old dental tools.

 

Thanks!

-Frank 

[Jeffrey P]

Congratulations Frank. Very unusual to see a fish vert that big from the Monmouth County Cretaceous. Whatever it is, good luck prepping it.

[Mark Kmiecik]

Ah, so that's where I dropped it. Nice find.

[The Jersey Devil]

It could be Xiphactinus or Enchodus.

That vertebra type is commonly found in pieces, whole ones aren’t so common.

 

Xiph verts have deep foramina in the lateral surfaces of the centrum.

I don’t know if it can be definitively IDd because the fish record here is pretty fragmentary.

[Plax]

I'm surprised at the hard rock (sandstone?) encasing this. Guess it could have weathered out of a concretion. Do you know what formation it is from?

[ynot]

Considering that there were thousands of species of fish in the ocean back then, how did You decide it was one of the two?

[Fossildude19]

8 minutes ago, ynot said:

Considering that there were thousands of species of fish in the ocean back then, how did You decide it was one of the two?

Those are the two varieties that have been most found in the area.  

[erose]

33 minutes ago, Fossildude19 said:

Those are the two varieties that have been most found in the area.  

I would agree. A pretty good swag (scientific wild #$% guess) but as you say there could be possibilities we just have yet to encounter.

 

 

[frankh8147]

1 hour ago, Plax said:

I'm surprised at the hard rock (sandstone?) encasing this. Guess it could have weathered out of a concretion. Do you know what formation it is from?

Thanks for the responses!

I would think it's Wenonah based on where I found it but im not 100% sure. As per narrowing it down to those two, as others said, they were just the most common but of course it could be from some fish I am not familiar with. I was hoping there was some diagnostic aspect of it that could eliminate one of those choices but had a feeling that it probably wasn't going to happen. 

[frankh8147]

On 5/7/2019 at 8:00 PM, Jeffrey P said:

Congratulations Frank. Very unusual to see a fish vert that big from the Monmouth County Cretaceous. Whatever it is, good luck prepping it.

Thanks Jeff! That material is surprising tough to pick off.

[vellis]

For what it’s worth, it does not look like the Xiphactiuns verts that I have collected here in Texas.  It looks too long for the width of it.  It would almost have to be 2 stacked together to get the length of that one.  Of course it could be misshaped or elongated, and then all bets are off.

 

I am also used to seeing a very defined structure on the sides (not the top or bottom) of the x-fish verts.   

 

Cool find!

[frankh8147]

8 hours ago, vellis said:

For what it’s worth, it does not look like the Xiphactiuns verts that I have collected here in Texas.  It looks too long for the width of it.  It would almost have to be 2 stacked together to get the length of that one.  Of course it could be misshaped or elongated, and then all bets are off.

 

I am also used to seeing a very defined structure on the sides (not the top or bottom) of the x-fish verts.   

 

Cool find!

Thanks!

[JarrodB]

9 hours ago, vellis said:

For what it’s worth, it does not look like the Xiphactiuns verts that I have collected here in Texas.  It looks too long for the width of it.  It would almost have to be 2 stacked together to get the length of that one.  Of course it could be misshaped or elongated, and then all bets are off.

 

I am also used to seeing a very defined structure on the sides (not the top or bottom) of the x-fish verts.   

 

Cool find!

I agree. I'm leaning more towards Enchodus on this one. Nice find Frank.