Jefitchia copelandi Dante & Frizzell, 1965

Lin, Chien-Hsiang & Nolf, Dirk, 2022, Middle and late Eocene fish otoliths from the eastern and southern USA, European Journal of Taxonomy 814, pp. 1-122 : 88-89

Jefitchia copelandi Dante & Frizzell, 1965

Fig. 33A–F

Jefitchia copelandi Dante & Frizzell in Frizzell & Dante, 1965: 705, pl. 87 figs 3–4, 9, pl 88 figs 1–2, 6.

Jefitchia copelandi – Schwarzhans 1993: 26, fig. 10. — Ebersole et al. 2019: 215 , fig. 71q–r.

“ Sciaenida ” copelandi – Nolf 2013: 107, pl. 281.

Remarks

The otoliths of this species are characterized by a narrow and straight ostium and a very long cauda that bends strongly downwards, with its end recurved in the anterior direction. There is a rather narrow distance between the ostium and the bent part of the cauda; this distance is only about half as long as the ventrally oriented caudal end. The growth series clearly illustrates that these features already exist at the juvenile stage. During growth, the inner face swells and becomes markedly convex, bulging like a hill at a later stage of the ontogeny.

Stratigraphic and geographic distribution

Lutetian: Weches Formation and “Stone City beds”, Texas; Dobys Bluff Tongue of Kosciusko Formation, Mississippi; “lower” Lisbon Formation, Alabama. Bartonian: Cook Mountain Formation, Texas; “upper” Lisbon Formation and Gosport Sand, Alabama.

Figures

Fig. 33. Fish otoliths from the US middle and upper Eocene. A–F. Jefitchia copelandi Dante & Frizzell, 1965. A–B. Wheelock M., Little Brazos River, confluence with Brazos River, Texas (IRSNB P 10217– 10218). C–F. “Stone City beds”, Stone City Bluff, Brazos River, sample 6 from bed U, Texas (IRSNB P 10219–10222). G–H. Sciaenidae indet. G. Gosport Sand, Claiborne Bluff, Alabama (IRSNB P 10223). H. Potterchitto M., Newton, NE exit off Interstate 20, Mississippi (IRSNB P 10224). 1 = ventral view; 2 = inner view. Scale bars = 1 mm.