A toadfish (Batrachoidiformes) from the Oligocene of the Eastern Carpathians (Piatra Neamt, Romania)

摘要

A single articulated skeleton of a juvenile toadfish (Batrachoidiformes) is described from the Oligocene Bituminous Marls Formation exposed in the Cozla Mountain, not far from the city center of Piatra Neamt in the Romanian Eastern Carpathians. The fossil is only partially complete, lacking most of the caudal portion of the body, and incompletely ossified due to its juvenile nature. However, it shows a suite of features that unambiguously support its attribution to the batrachoidiform family Batrachoididae, including the overall morphology of the head, unossified mesethmoid, supracleithrum ankylosed with posttemporal, and first epineural considerably hypertrophied. Unfortunately, due to the both the incompleteness and juvenile nature of the fossil, it is not possible to provide a detailed comparative analysis with both extant and extinct toadfishes and to define its taxonomic status at the genus or species level. Anyway, the possession of a single pair of hypertrophied first epineurals clearly separates the fossil documented herein from the only other Oligocene toadfish known based on articulated skeletal remains, Louckaichthys novosadi, which is characterized by two pairs of robust and hypertrophied epineurals.