Paranursallia, Taverne & Layeb & Layeb-Tounsi & Gaudant, 2015

Taverne, Louis, Layeb, Mohsen, Layeb-Tounsi, Yosra & Gaudant, Jean, 2015, Paranursallia spinosa n. gen., n. sp., a new Upper Cretaceous pycnodontiform fish from the Eurafrican Mesogea, Geodiversitas 37 (2), pp. 215-227 : 218

Genus Paranursallia n. gen.

TYPE SPECIES. — Paranursallia spinosa n. sp. (herein designated). ETYMOLOGY. — From the Greek para, near, close to, and the generic name Nursallia .

DIAGNOSIS. — Nursalliinae with a large head, a wide orbit and a very short snout. Paired broad prefrontals present. Short mesethmoid. Parasphenoid short and straight. Mandible triangular and as deep as long. Wide dermosphenotic. A large and deep “V”-shaped notch at the ventral junction between the skull and the cleithrum. First neural arches fused in a large synarcual articulated on the rear of the skull. First 7 or 8 neural spines autogenous. 27 to 30 vertebral segments before the epichordal series. Neural and haemal arches interlocked by two pre- and two postzygapophyses. Dorsal and anal fin with about 70 pterygiophores each.