Unidentified Fossilized Bone from Bolivar Peninsula, TX

[Ramon]

Yesterday I took a short trip to Crystal Beach, Bolivar Peninsula, TX. I found plenty of tumbled fossilized bone fragments, but this one caught my eye. I have no idea as to what it could be from, but if I had to guess it might be some bone from a fish. Maybe one of the many knowledgeable forum members can help me out. It is very thin, no more than 3 mm, and about 2 cm in length. It probably comes from an offshore deposits of the late Pleistocene, Beaumont Formation, which has been known to produce mammal remains and shark teeth. 

 

 

 

 

[hemipristis]

fish skull element.  When I get home let me paw through my references. 

[hemipristis]

I would appear to be a fish preoperculum, a bone located in the gill region. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of identified material to compare to, so I can't identify what kind of fish.  

I"ve attached a drawing of a fish skull, courtesy of wikipedia. The red bone in the drawing is the preoperculum.

 

I've also attached two identified examples, courtesy of the Smithsonian's The Geology and Paleontology of Lee Creek, Vol. III. The one with the white background is from an Astroscopus sp. (stargazer), and the second from a Prionotus sp. (sea robin)

[Ramon]

6 hours ago, hemipristis said:

I would appear to be a fish preoperculum, a bone located in the gill region. Unfortunately, there's not a lot of identified material to compare to, so I can't identify what kind of fish.  

I"ve attached a drawing of a fish skull, courtesy of wikipedia. The red bone in the drawing is the preoperculum.

 

I've also attached two identified examples, courtesy of the Smithsonian's The Geology and Paleontology of Lee Creek, Vol. III. The one with the white background is from an Astroscopus sp. (stargazer), and the second from a Prionotus sp. (sea robin)

 

Thank you so much for the information!!