New insights on the osteology and taxonomy of the osteoglossid fishes Phareodus, Brychaetus and Musperia (Teleostei, Osteoglossomorpha)
Taverne, L. (2009). New insights on the osteology and taxonomy of the osteoglossid fishes Phareodus, Brychaetus and Musperia (Teleostei, Osteoglossomorpha). Bull. Kon. Belg. Inst. Natuurwet. Aardwet. = Bull. - Inst. r. sci. nat. Belg., Sci. Terre 79: 175-190
In: Bulletin van het Koninklijk Belgisch Instituut voor Natuurwetenschappen. Aardwetenschappen = Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique. Sciences de la Terre. KBIN: Brussel. ISSN 0374-6291, more
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| Keywords |
Geological time > Phanerozoic > Geological time > Cenozoic > Paleogene
Geological time > Phanerozoic > Geological time > Cenozoic > Paleogene > Palaeogene > Eocene
Brychaetus; Musperia; Osteoglossidae Bonaparte, 1845 [WoRMS]; Osteoglossomorpha; Phareodus; Teleostei [WoRMS]
Indonesia [Marine Regions]
Marine/Coastal |
| Author keywords |
Teleostei, fossil Osteoglossidae, Phareodus, Brychaetus, Musperia, osteology, ostéologie. |
| Abstract |
The author describes the snout osteology of the fossil Osteoglossidae Phareodus and Brychaetus. He shows that the two genera considerably differ in their naso-ethmoid region. Indeed, Phareodus encaustus and P. queenslandicus possess a large dermethmoid contacting the frontals and separating the two nasals from each other, which is the primitive condition within teleosts. P. testis is a little more specialized. Its dermethmoid still separates partially the two nasals but it begins to lose its contact with the frontals. On the contrary, Brychaetus muelleri exhibits a specialized snout pattern. The two nasals, articulated with the frontals, are joined together on almost their entire length, except at their anterior edge where a small dermethmoid, largely separated from the frontals, is inserted between them, as in Osteoglossum and Scleropages. Thus, Brychaetus is a valid genus and not a synonym of Phareodus. The author also shows that the osteoglossid Musperia radiata, from the Eocene of Indonesia, displays the same advanced snout pattern as Brychaetus and the two Recent Osteoglossidae. The caudal skeleton of Musperia is described for the first time. The first preural and the first ural centra bear complete neural spines. The five hypurals are autogenous. There is a pair of uroneurals and no epural. |
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