Sarmatella doljeana ( Gorjanović-Kramberger, 1884 )

Gol’din, Pavel, Haiduc, Bogdan Stelian, Kovalchuk, Oleksandr, Górka, Marcin, Otryazhyi, Pavlo, Brânzilă, Mihai, Păun, Elena Ionela, Barkaszi, Zoltán, Ţibuleac, Paul & Răţoi, Bogdan Gabriel, 2020, The Volhynian (late Middle Miocene) marine fishes and mammals as proxies for the onset of the Eastern Paratethys re-colonisation by vertebrate fauna, Palaeontologia Electronica (a 43) 23 (3), pp. 1-20 : 5

Sarmatella doljeana ( Gorjanović-Kramberger, 1884)

Figure 3 A-B

Material and localities. Two incomplete articulated skeletons; Leucuşeşti, Hrushivtsi.

Description. The anterior part of the body ( Figure 3A ) is well preserved; however, many bones were destroyed and are represented by fragments. The body is elongated and laterally compressed. Its dorsal profile is straight, while the abdomen is moderately convex. The head is large (head length 14.1 mm, head depth 9.8 mm, preorbital distance 4.3 mm, postorbital distance 6.5 mm). The skull roof is almost straight, and the snout is pointed. The relatively large orbit (orbital diameter 3.3 mm, vertical diameter 2.6 mm) is oval. There are two auditory capsules: bulla prootica is 2.3 times larger than bulla pterotica. The mouth is small and terminal. The lower jaw is 7.2 mm long. It projects beyond the upper jaw and is articulated with the skull behind the anterior orbital margin. The vertebral column extends above the longitudinal axis of the body and consists of elongated vertebrae. The dorsal fin is preceded by 10 supraneuralia. Another specimen ( Figure 3B ) is a caudal part of the body. The minimum body depth is 3.5 mm. The caudal fin is deeply forked and has 19 principal rays and 10 additional ones. Its skeleton consists of two epurals, six hypurals, and one parhypural fused with the first preural vertebra.

Remarks. The studied specimens share a set of features diagnostic for Sarmatella doljeana ( Gorjanović-Kramberger, 1884) : the number and relative size of auditory capsules, projection of the lower jaw and the place of its articulation with the skull, the number of supraneuralia, as well as the structure of the caudal fin ( Baykina, 2013a). Also, there are a few complete and subcomplete skeletons provisionally assigned to Sarmatella doljeana in the collection from Hrushivtsi ( Ukraine).

Figures

FIGURE 3. Fish remains from the Volhynian beds of Romania and Ukraine: A-B – Sarmatella doljeana (Kramberger, 1884), anterior part of the body (A), and caudal part (B), Leucuşeşti; C – Clupeinae gen. et sp. indet., isolated scale, Voineşti; D-E – Scombroidei indet., caudal part (D), Erbiceni, and middle part of the body (E), Aroneanu; F – Sparus brusinai (Kramberger, 1882), skeleton, Hrushivtsi; G-H – Sparus cf. brusinai (Kramberger, 1882), right dentary in lateral (G) and dorsal view (H), Pârâul lui Gheorghe; I – Bothus parvulus (Kramberger, 1883), body imprint, Româneşti. Scale bars equal 2 mm in C, 5 mm in A-B, D-E, G-I, and 2 cm in F.