Mullus elongatus Steurbaut, 1984

Agiadi, Konstantina, Koskeridou, Efterpi & Thivaiou, Danae, 2021, At the crossroads: early Miocene marine fishes of the proto-Mediterranean Sea, Fossil Record 24 (2), pp. 233-246 : 241

Mullus elongatus Steurbaut, 1984

Fig. 4J–K

1984 Mullus elongatus – Steurbaut, pl. 29, figs. 8–12

2013 Mullus elongatus Steurbaut, 1984 – Nolf, pl. 285

Material

Two otoliths from level 11 and two otoliths from level 12.

Distribution

Lower Miocene of the Aquitanian Basin ( Steurbaut, 1984) and the MHB.

Remarks

These otoliths have a long sulcus, comprised of a small circular ostium and a long cauda, which turns toward the ventral area and opens in the posterior end. The dorsal rim is straight. Compared to the modern species Mullus surmuletus Linnaeus and Mullus barbatus Linnaeus ( Hoedemakers and Batllori, 2005; Tuset et al., 2008; Agiadi et al., 2019), the otoliths of M. elognatus are not as high, but more elongated (OL: OH = 1.76–1.82 in M. elongatus but 1.23 in M. barbatus and 1.52 in M. surmulatus , both values from the Pleistocene of the eastern Mediterranean; Agiadi et al., 2019), more so than Mullus bifurcatus Strashimirov reported from the lower–middle Miocene of the Paratethys ( Bratishko et al., 2015).

Figures

Figure 4. Photographs of the identified otoliths from the Felli section. (A) Lobianchia sp., Felli 11; (B–C) Myripristis verus Steurbaut, (B) Felli 11, (C) Felli 12; (D) Echiodon heinzelini Huyghebaert and Nolf, Felli 11; (E) Apogon moyesi Steurbaut, Felli 11; (F) “Batrachoidida” vigneauxi (Steurbaut), Felli 11; (G) Blennius sp., Felli 11; (H) Arnoglossus holleri Weinfurter, Felli 11; (I) Microchirus latior (Schubert), Felli 11; (J–K) Mullus elongatus Steurbaut, (J) Felli 11, (K) Felli 12; (L) Cepola yrieuensis Steurbaut, Felli 11; (M–N) Pomadasys sp., Felli 11; (O) Pagrus sp., Felli 11. (F), (H), (J), and (K) have been mirrored to facilitate comparison.