Morone cf. nobilis ( Koken, 1891 )

Bratishko, Andriy, Kovalchuk, Oleksandr & Schwarzhans, Werner, 2017, Bessarabian (Tortonian, Late Miocene) fish otoliths from a transitional freshwater-brackish environment of Mykhailivka, Southern Ukraine, Palaeontologia Electronica 17 (9), pp. 1-13 : 5

Morone cf. nobilis ( Koken, 1891)

Figure 3.1-4

1891 Otolithes (Dentex) nobilis ; Koken, pl. 8, fig. 8.

1977 Morone limburgensis ( Posthumus, 1923) ; Nolf, pl. 14, figs. 4-6.

1977 Acropoma nobilis ( Koken, 1891) ; Nolf, pl. 15, figs. 21-22; pl. 18, figs. 3-4.

1994 Morone nobilis ( Koken, 1891) ; Schwarzhans, figs. 373-388.

1996 Acropoma nobilis ( Koken, 1891) ; Müller, pl. 5, fig. 7; pl. 7, figs. 17-18.

2009 Morone nobilis ( Koken, 1891) ; Schwarzhans and Wienrich, pl. 199, figs. 4-6.

2010 Morone nobilis ( Koken, 1891) ; Schwarzhans, pl. 73, figs. 6-12.

2013 Acropoma nobilis ( Koken, 1891) ; Nolf, pl. 208.

Material. Two incomplete otoliths and one frag-

ment ( NMNHU-P 33/1482-1484, Mykhailivka 1).

Description. Otoliths are rather large (up to greater than 5 mm length). The anterior part of the ostium is damaged. The ventral rim is smooth and deeply curved, especially in the largest specimen

(see Figure 3.1 ). The dorsal rim bears an anterodorsal and a distinct postero-dorsal angle. The posterior tip is slightly rounded.

The inner face is convex; the outer face is slightly concave. The sulcus is situated slightly supramedian and is moderately deepened. The ostium is incomplete, but certainly was shorter than the cauda and is about twice as wide, and dorsally and ventrally expanded. The cauda is straight anteriorly, bent downward posteriorly and terminates at some distance from the posteroventral rim. The crista superior is distinct and sharp; the crista inferior is poorly expressed.

Remark. Morone nobilis is known from the late Oli-

gocene and early to middle Miocene of the North

Sea Basin (e.g., Koken, 1891; Schwarzhans,

2010). The specimens presented here are very similar, but are assigned to M. nobilis with some reservation because of their incompleteness and the remoteness of the location from the North Sea Basin.

Figures

FIGURE 3. Otoliths from the Sarmatian s.l. of the Mykhailivka 1. 1-4, Morone cf. nobilis (Koken, 1891): NMNHU-P 33/ 1482, inner face (1), ventral view (2); NMNHU-P 33/1483, inner face (3), ventral view (4). 5-8, Genyonemus? sp.: NMNHU-P 33/1485, inner face (5), ventral view (6); NMNHU-P 33/1512, inner face (7), ventral view (8). 9-18, Ponticola dorsorostralis (Weinfurter, 1954): NMNHU-P 33/1486, inner face (9), ventral view (10); NMNHU-P 33/1487, inner face (11), ventral view (12); NMNHU-P 33/1488, inner face (13), ventral view (14); NMNHU-P 33/1489, inner face (15); NMNHU-P 33/1490, inner face (16); NMNHU-P 33/1491, inner face (17); NMNHU-P 33/1492, inner face (18). Scale bars equal 1 mm. 5-10, 17, 18 are mirrored.

FIGURE 4. Otoliths from the Sarmatian s.l. of the Mykhailivka 1. 1-9, Neogobius bettinae n. sp.: NMNHU-P 33/1497 (paratype), inner face (1); NMNHU-P 33/1498 (paratype), inner face (2); NMNHU-P 33/1499 (paratype), inner face (3), ventral view (4); NMNHU-P 33/1496 (holotype), inner face (5), ventral view (6); NMNHU-P 33/1500 (paratype), inner face (7), ventral view (8); NMNHU-P 33/1501 (paratype), inner face (9). 10-19, Neogobius rhachis Rückert-Ülkümen, 1993 in Rückert-Ülkümen et al., 1993: NMNHU-P 33/1504, inner face (10), ventral view (11); NMNHU-P 33/1505, inner face (12), ventral view (13); NMNHU-P 33/1506, inner face (14), ventral view (15); NMNHU-P 33/1507, inner face (16), ventral view (17); NMNHU-P 33/1508, inner face (18); NMNHU-P 33/1509, inner face (19). Scale bars equal 1 mm. 5- 8, 10, 11, 14, 15, 18 are mirrored.