Plantguy Posted September 21, 2013 Share Posted September 21, 2013 Hi Astrinos, enjoyed seeing the latest fish! Continued success! Regards, Chris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted September 24, 2013 Author Share Posted September 24, 2013 Tim and Chris, Thanks a lot my friends for the nice comments A fishy plate with two species representatives follows: 1)Spratelloides gracilis (the bigger one) and 2)Bregmaceros albyi... Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted September 27, 2013 Author Share Posted September 27, 2013 Hello all. Today's display is one more recent fishy find coming from the Late pliocene diatomic sediments near my city of Heraklion Crete, as well.. It's about a section of a fish scales layer that also bears bones and small sectional vertebral columns. In what it concerns the bigger fossil unity (pic 2), judging by the pelvic rays on the right, I think it's about a head of a huge (for this species) Bregmaceros albyi. Magnification reveals some scales preserved nicely on this one... Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted October 11, 2013 Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 (edited) Hello my friends! Let me add some more recently found fishy stuff from the same above quoted location. At first two fish heads coming from unusual to this site fish in what it has to do so with their unknown to me species, as with their size, as well. Unfortunately, just the heads were preserved and these not in a perfect condition... Edit: The first skull belongs to a Cutlassfish of the genus Lepidopus sp.. Thanks Thomas for the id. Edited October 18, 2013 by astron Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted October 11, 2013 Author Share Posted October 11, 2013 (edited) And a Spratelloides gracilis fish. Edited October 11, 2013 by astron Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted October 11, 2013 Share Posted October 11, 2013 Once again, Astrinos, you amaze me with your finds! Fantastic fishes!! I think the first skull you have there may belong to the Order: Aulepiformes, Suborder: Alepisauroidei, Family: Paralepididae. The barracudinas. Maybe something like Paralepis sp. (synonyms: Anapterus, Tydeus.) From: Fossil Atlas, Fishes by Karl Albert Frickhinger: "Geological range : from the Oligocene to recent. Geographical distribution: Europe, northern Africa. Features: Small to middle sized fishes,of very slender, elongate shape. Head long and shallow. Eyes relatively large. Snout elongated to form a short pike-like rostrum. Gape long. ..." This was the closest match I could find in the book. They are described as rapidly swimming predators. They are closely related to recent barracudinas of the genus Paralepis. Unfortunately, I am having no luck with your other skull. Thank you, my friend, for keeping us appraised of your wonderful fossils. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted October 12, 2013 Share Posted October 12, 2013 Barracuda! They may not be in perfect condition but the preservation looks pretty good! I am not too familiar with fish so I was hoping there would be at least a general (family, order?) ID for the 2nd one as I have scales from my local Cretaceous that look almost identical and I'd like to know what group they are from..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 (edited) Once again, Astrinos, you amaze me with your finds! Fantastic fishes!! I think the first skull you have there may belong to the Order: Aulepiformes, Suborder: Alepisauroidei, Family: Paralepididae. The barracudinas. Maybe something like Paralepis sp. (synonyms: Anapterus, Tydeus.) From: Fossil Atlas, Fishes by Karl Albert Frickhinger: "Geological range : from the Oligocene to recent. Geographical distribution: Europe, northern Africa. Features: Small to middle sized fishes,of very slender, elongate shape. Head long and shallow. Eyes relatively large. Snout elongated to form a short pike-like rostrum. Gape long. ..." This was the closest match I could find in the book. They are described as rapidly swimming predators. They are closely related to recent barracudinas of the genus Paralepis. Unfortunately, I am having no luck with your other skull. Thank you, my friend, for keeping us appraised of your wonderful fossils. Regards, A hearty thanks, my friend, so for the comments as for devoting that much of your time to this thread and for your important help, as usual!!! Edited October 18, 2013 by astron Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted October 15, 2013 Author Share Posted October 15, 2013 Barracuda! They may not be in perfect condition but the preservation looks pretty good! I am not too familiar with fish so I was hoping there would be at least a general (family, order?) ID for the 2nd one as I have scales from my local Cretaceous that look almost identical and I'd like to know what group they are from..... That's an apt observation Eric! As for the second head, it seems we have to hope for a complete specimen in the future... Though, there are more puzzles, like the example on the photo! I think it's about fish gills, Just a thought. What does everyone think with it? Any way, I am still amazed with the details and the goldish coloration of this specimen!!! Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wrangellian Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 I am not strong on fish anatomy but the preservation looks great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted October 15, 2013 Share Posted October 15, 2013 Indeed Eric, most of these specimens are museum quality. The preservation is exquisite, as evidenced by the detail seen in the gill rakers in Astrino's last post. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oilshale Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Once again, Astrinos, you amaze me with your finds! Fantastic fishes!! I think the first skull you have there may belong to the Order: Aulepiformes, Suborder: Alepisauroidei, Family: Paralepididae. The barracudinas. ........ Thank you, my friend, for keeping us appraised of your wonderful fossils. Regards, Hi Astrinos, Tim made me aware of these two pictures. The first fish was definitely a voracious predator and the head with this prominent underbite looks similar to that of a Barracuda, but I don't think it belongs to this genus. Barracudas have two widely separated dorsal fins - the anterior fin is situated opposite to the pelvic fins and the posterior dorsal fin opposite to the anal fin. The body is covered with small scales. I believe this fish here is a Cutlassfish - they belong to the Perciformes. Cutlassfish do not posses scales - their body is naked. The very long dorsal fin contains a few weak spines at the front followed by more than hundred soft rays. The dorsal fin starts right behind the head and I believe in your pic, you can see a couple of spines / rays from the dorsal fin. There is a Lepidopus glarisianus from the Oligocene of the Carpathians in my gallery: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/gallery/image/21326-lepidopus-glarisianus/ . The head is somehow folded back, but I think you can still see the strong underbite. The Wiki picture of Lepidopus glarensis from the Oligocene of Glarus /Switzerland is much better: http://commons.wikim...glaronensis.JPG For the second picture, I have no clue. I have a (poor) copy of Lorenzo Sorbini (1987) "Biogeography and Climatology of Pliocene and Messinian Fish of Eastern-Central Italy", Bull. Mus. civ. St. nat. Verona, 14, 1987, (1988), pp. 1-85 (unfortunately 22MB!). I would guess the fauna in Italy and Crete being comparable. Anybody interested, send a PM with your email address. Thomas 3 Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes (Confucius, 551 BC - 479 BC). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fossildude19 Posted October 16, 2013 Share Posted October 16, 2013 Hi Astrinos, Tim made me aware of these two pictures. The first fish was definitely a voracious predator and the head with this prominent underbite looks similar to that of a Barracuda, but I don't think it belongs to this genus. Barracudas have two widely separated dorsal fins - the anterior fin is situated opposite to the pelvic fins and the posterior dorsal fin opposite to the anal fin. The body is covered with small scales. I believe this fish here is a Cutlassfish - they belong to the Perciformes. Cutlassfish do not posses scales - their body is naked. The very long dorsal fin contains a few weak spines at the front followed by more than hundred soft rays. The dorsal fin starts right behind the head and I believe in your pic, you can see a couple of spines / rays from the dorsal fin. There is a Lepidopus glarisianus from the Oligocene of the Carpathians in my gallery: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/gallery/image/21326-lepidopus-glarisianus/ . The head is somehow folded back, but I think you can still see the strong underbite. The Wiki picture of Lepidopus glarensis from the Oligocene of Glarus /Switzerland is much better: http://commons.wikim...glaronensis.JPG For the second picture, I have no clue. I have a (poor) copy of Lorenzo Sorbini (1987) "Biogeography and Climatology of Pliocene and Messinian Fish of Eastern-Central Italy", Bull. Mus. civ. St. nat. Verona, 14, 1987, (1988), pp. 1-85 (unfortunately 22MB!). I would guess the fauna in Italy and Crete being comparable. Anybody interested, send a PM with your email address. Thomas Thank you, Thomas, for taking a look at these skulls. I would agree that your ID of Lepidopus is a closer match than my original id of Paralepis sp. Thanks again for the proper ID. Regards, Tim - VETERAN SHALE SPLITTER VFOTM --- APRIL - 2015 __________________________________________________ "In every walk with nature one receives far more than he seeks." John Muir ~ ~ ~ ~ ><))))( *> About Me Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 Hi Astrinos, Tim made me aware of these two pictures. The first fish was definitely a voracious predator and the head with this prominent underbite looks similar to that of a Barracuda, but I don't think it belongs to this genus. Barracudas have two widely separated dorsal fins - the anterior fin is situated opposite to the pelvic fins and the posterior dorsal fin opposite to the anal fin. The body is covered with small scales. I believe this fish here is a Cutlassfish - they belong to the Perciformes. Cutlassfish do not posses scales - their body is naked. The very long dorsal fin contains a few weak spines at the front followed by more than hundred soft rays. The dorsal fin starts right behind the head and I believe in your pic, you can see a couple of spines / rays from the dorsal fin. There is a Lepidopus glarisianus from the Oligocene of the Carpathians in my gallery: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/gallery/image/21326-lepidopus-glarisianus/ . The head is somehow folded back, but I think you can still see the strong underbite. The Wiki picture of Lepidopus glarensis from the Oligocene of Glarus /Switzerland is much better: http://commons.wikim...glaronensis.JPG For the second picture, I have no clue. I have a (poor) copy of Lorenzo Sorbini (1987) "Biogeography and Climatology of Pliocene and Messinian Fish of Eastern-Central Italy", Bull. Mus. civ. St. nat. Verona, 14, 1987, (1988), pp. 1-85 (unfortunately 22MB!). I would guess the fauna in Italy and Crete being comparable. Anybody interested, send a PM with your email address. Thomas Hi Thomas! A big thanks for the much time you have spent on this thread and for your enlightening input on the first fish skull!!! Neat job indeed!!! As for Sorbini pdf you are refering to, you have already sent it to me previously and thus I have it in my library... Thanks much again for your widespread help!! Kind regards Astrinos Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted October 18, 2013 Author Share Posted October 18, 2013 Thank you, Thomas, for taking a look at these skulls. I would agree that your ID of Lepidopus is a closer match than my original id of Paralepis sp. Thanks again for the proper ID. Regards, Tim, Your intention to help everyone by all available ways is scattered around TFF!!! Glad for having you as a friend!!! Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Terry Dactyll Posted October 18, 2013 Share Posted October 18, 2013 Astrinos.... More fabulous finds my friend....you never seem to run out of collecting luck.... Cheers Steve... And Welcome if your a New Member... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted October 19, 2013 Author Share Posted October 19, 2013 Astrinos.... More fabulous finds my friend....you never seem to run out of collecting luck.... Thanks much Steve for the comment! Well known my friend that the lack of luck never helps... You give me the chance to add 3 more fish gill samples found recently. Hopefully, these specimens along with the previously presented example will be useful to science sometime... Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnJ Posted October 19, 2013 Share Posted October 19, 2013 Thanks much Steve for the comment! Well known my friend that the lack of luck never helps... You give me the chance to add 3 more fish gill samples found recently. Hopefully, these specimens along with the previously presented example will be useful to science sometime... They are remarkable finds, Astrinos. Hopefully someone in the paleo community will take up research on some aspect of the geology in your area. The human mind has the ability to believe anything is true. - JJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted October 24, 2013 Author Share Posted October 24, 2013 Thanks John! I do hope so... Here is a slab bearing two Spratelloides gracilis herring fish. Hopefully decent at some point... Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paco Posted October 28, 2013 Share Posted October 28, 2013 Hi Astrine. Found some time today because of our national holiday (Χρόνια πολλά by the way) and scanned some of the sharkteeth I've been finding over the years. I had promised to show them to you so here you go. Not many details disclosed :-) but I uploaded them here: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/41669-pliocene-shark-teeth/ If you know any people interested (in a scientific way) and knowledgeable of Chondrichtyan teeth in Greece feel free to forward these bad pics. I can get some better on request... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted October 29, 2013 Author Share Posted October 29, 2013 Hi Astrine. Found some time today because of our national holiday (Χρόνια πολλά by the way) and scanned some of the sharkteeth I've been finding over the years. I had promised to show them to you so here you go. Not many details disclosed :-) but I uploaded them here: http://www.thefossilforum.com/index.php?/topic/41669-pliocene-shark-teeth/ If you know any people interested (in a scientific way) and knowledgeable of Chondrichtyan teeth in Greece feel free to forward these bad pics. I can get some better on request... Hi my friend! Glad to see your important to our country shark collection!!! Congratulations and thanks for sharing! Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted November 22, 2013 Author Share Posted November 22, 2013 Hello all!Came back after a while to add a recently found fossil I like to my TFF collection.I spotted this thing on the sand stone layers next to my village of Panasos, Crete, Greece. After 3 hours of work on 03 and on 10 Nov.13 I dug up this afflicted shell. It seems like a disappointing result... What it has ended up on the next post... Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astron Posted November 22, 2013 Author Share Posted November 22, 2013 (edited) Final result after hours of homework: A big pecten of the genus Gigantopecten sp. measuring 22 x 18 x 5 cm. Age Late miocene, 7 - 8 mya. Panasos, Crete, Greece. Photo 1 of 6: right valve. Photo 2 of 6: left valve. Photo 3 of 6: open wide (external view). Photo 4 of 6: My 7 yeared granddaughter rather surprised displays it closed... Photo 5 of 6: My 7 yeared granddaughter displays it open (internal view)... Photo 6 of 6: It has taken a place in a crowded shelf... Thanks for viewing... Edited November 22, 2013 by astron Astrinos P. Damianakis Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Auspex Posted November 22, 2013 Share Posted November 22, 2013 <gasp> Complete, un-broken....! Wonderful find! "There has been an alarming increase in the number of things I know nothing about." - Ashleigh Ellwood Brilliant “Try to learn something about everything and everything about something.” - Thomas Henry Huxley >Paleontology is an evolving science. >May your wonders never cease! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scylla Posted November 24, 2013 Share Posted November 24, 2013 no, I think it came out broken, but was expertly repaired, nice job! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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