Teffichthys madagascariensis (Piveteau, 1934)

Taxonomy

Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopteri Cope 1871
Order: incertae sedis
Family: incertae sedis
Genus: Teffichthys
Species: Teffichthys madagascariensis
Author Citation (PIVETEAU, 1934)

Geological Time Scale

Eon: Phanerozoic
Era: Mesozoic
Period: Triassic
Sub Period: None
Epoch: Early
International Age: Dienerian

Stratigraphy

Beaufort Group
Sakamena Formation

Biostratigraphy

Lystrosaurus and Cynognathus Zone
Fish and Ammonite Horizon

Provenance

Acquired by: Purchase/Trade

Dimensions

Length: 13 cm

Location

Ambilobe
Antsiranana Province
Diana Region
Madagascar

• ambilobe
• madagascar
• perleidus
• sakamena formation
• teffichthys
• tff-oilshale-ch1329
• triassic

Comments

 

Taxonomy from Fossilworks.org.

Perleidus madagascariensis was recently redescribed by Tintori et al as Teffichthys madagascariensis.

Origin of the name: Named after ‘TEFF’ (Triassic Early Fish Fauna; see Tintori et al. 2014), being one of the most common representatives of this assemblage, and from Greek ‘ichthys’, meaning ‘fish‘.

Diagnosis from Marramà et al. 2017, p. 223: "Small- to medium-sized basal (non neopterygian) actinopterygian fish having the following unique combination of characters: body elongate and tapered; dermal cranial bones ornamented with tubercles and ridges; parietals subquadrangular in shape with three pit-lines (anterior, median and posterior); posttemporals widely separated; suborbital and spiracular ossicles present; two to five supraorbitals; nasals separated by the rostral; maxilla fixed to an almost vertical preopercle; straight oral margin of maxilla, which is dorso-posteriorly expanded; jaws with styliform teeth; broad vertical or slightly forward inclined preopercle; opercle smaller than subopercle; five to eight branchiostegal rays; dorsal and anal fins inserted in the posterior half of the body; median-fin rays only distally segmented and supported by an equal number of pterygiophores at least in the middle part; fringing fulcra present on all fins; abbreviated heterocercal caudal fin; anteriormost lateral trunk scales higher than wide, with serrated posterior margin."

Reconstruction from Marramá et al., 2017, p. 228:

 

 

References:
Piveteau, J. (1934): Paléontologie de Madagascar, XXI. Les poissons du Trias inferieur. Contribution à l’étude des Actinoptérygiens. Ann Paléont., 23: 81-180; Paris