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5. Tortonian Fish otoliths from the Northern Italy. Abbreviations: 1, ventral view; 2, inner view. Scale bars = 1 mm. A, Diaphus holti Tåning, 1918, Mondovi, Madonna della Neve, IRSNB P 9732. B, Diaphus metopoclampoides Steurbaut, 1983, Sant'Alosio, IRSNB P 9733. C-E, Diaphus regani Tåning, 1932, Montegibbio, IRSNB P 9734-P 9736. F, G, Diaphus pedemontanus (Robba, 1970), Sant'Alosio, IRSNB P 9737, P 9738. H, Diaphus aff. rafinesquii (Cocco, 1838), Mondovi, Madonna della Neve, IRSNB P 9739. I, Diaphus aff. splendidus (Brauer, 1904), Costa Vescovato, IRSNB P 9740. J, Diaphus cahuzaci Steurbaut, 1979, Mondovi, Madonna della Neve, IRSNB P 9741. K, Lampadena aff. dea Fraser-Brunner, 1949, Torrente Stirone, IRSNB P 9742. L, Lampadena aff. speculigeroides Brzobohatý & Nolf, 1996, Stazzano, IRSNB P 9743. M, Hygophum hygomii (Lütken, 1892), Mondovi, Madonna della Neve, IRSNB P 9744. N, O, Lampadena gracilis (Schubert, 1912), N, Alba, Tanaro (50 m); O, Mondovi, Madonna della Neve, IRSNB P 9745, P 9746. P, Q, Lobianchia gemellarii (Cocco, 1838), Sant'Alosio, IRSNB P 9747, P 9748. R, Hygophum derthonensis (Anfossi & Mosna, 1969), Torrente Stirone, IRSNB P 9749. S, T, Lampanyctus latesulcatus Nolf & Steurbaut, 1983, Sant'Agata Fossili, IRSNB P 9750, P 9751. U, Merluccius cf. merluccius (Linnaeus, 1758), Sant'Agata Fossili, IRSNB P 9752. V, Lobianchia dofleini (Zugmayer, 1911), Costa Vescovato, IRSNB P 9753.
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Studies describing fossil otolith assemblages often conclude with an interpretation on their paleoenvironment, on the basis of taxonomic composition. The taphonomy of otolith is, however, poorly known, and therefore it is not certain whether fossil otolith assemblages directly reflect the ecology of a given time in the past. In the marine environme...
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The original version of this report can be found at: http://www.environment.gov.au/water/cewo/publications/lachlan-ltim-report-2015-16
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... Numerous studies, including Huddleston and Savoie (1983), Nolf (1985Nolf ( , 2003Nolf ( , 2013, Stringer (1992Stringer ( , 1998, Schwarzhans (1993Schwarzhans ( , 1996Schwarzhans ( , 2003Schwarzhans ( , 2010, Nolf and Brzobohaty (1994), Nolf and Stringer (1996), Lin (2016), Lin *Author for correspondence PaleoBios 40(3) 2023PaleoBios 40(3) et al. (2016, Stringer et al. (2016, Schwarzhans et al. (2018a, b), Stringer and Bell (2018), and Stringer and Shannon (2019), as well as many other references contained in the aforementioned publications, have corroborated the value of otoliths in determining and interpreting bony fish fossil assemblages. In their long-term study of the upper Eocene Yazoo Clay in Louisiana, Breard and Stringer (1995) recovered 12 actinopterygians based on skeletal remains (primarily teeth). ...
... Studies of fish otoliths from Holocene bottom sediments have indicated that otoliths generally reflect fishes that inhabit an area. Research that support this conclusion includes those of Wigley and Stinton (1973), Gaemers (1978), Stringer (1992), McBride et al. (2010), Lowry (2011), Firestine et al. (2012, Schwarzhans (2013), Lin (2016), Lin et al. (2016Lin et al. ( , 2017. Taxonomic studies of extant fish otoliths or that include extant fish otoliths have greatly facilitated investigations of the otoliths of modern sea bottoms sediments. ...
The fortuitous discovery of Cretaceous (late Maastrichtian) teleostean otoliths in boring samples (17–31 m below ground level) from the Arkadelphia Formation near Cabot, Arkansas, USA, has consequential and overarching ramifications. The otolith assemblage, which is relatively large with 2,109 specimens, represents the first Mesozoic otolith assemblage described from Arkansas and one of the largest Cretaceous assemblages from a single USA site. The diversity of the assemblage is fairly large with a richness of 19 species with three additional taxa in open nomenclature and one unknown lapillus, which more than doubles the known actinopterygians from the Arkadelphia Formation. The otolith assemblage is extremely uneven in its diversity with one species, a putative siluriform Vorhisia vulpes Frizzell (1965b), accounting for approximately 73% of the total. The most unique feature of the otolith assemblage is the presence of cool-water gadiforms, which represent approximately 7.6% of the total assemblage. The presence of the gadiforms is related to the effects of the Western Interior Seaway and paleogeography during the Late Cretaceous in the western Gulf Coastal Plain. The gadiforms may represent relicts of a greater population and distribution in the early Maastrichtian. Percentage similarity measurements of the otolith assemblage indicate that the Arkadelphia Formation is more closely related to the Severn Formation in eastern Maryland (57.86%) and the Kemp Clay Formation in northeast Texas (35.77%) than to the Ripley Formation in northeastern Mississippi (5.34%). The similarity measurements and other factors indicate that the Arkadelphia Formation otolith assemblage belongs to the Western Interior Seaway community (bioprovince). The Arkadelphia Formation otolith assemblage also contains several taxa that become extinct, such as the ubiquitous V. vulpes, at the K-Pg extinction event. The otoliths point to a very shallow marine environment (possibly inner shelf; less than 20 m in depth) with estuarine and freshwater input nearby and may be utilized for refinement of paleoshorelines for the southern reaches of the Western Interior Seaway during the Late Cretaceous.
... Literature on otolith morphology of morid fish species are not extensive given the low commercial importance of this group and the deep waters they frequently inhabit (orLoV et al. 2020, KorosteLeV et al. 2020. Several authors have described the otolith of the members of the family Moridae either a single or multiple species ( Karrer 1971, PauLin 1985, 1989, smaLe et al., 1995, PauLin & roberts 1997, Lin & chang 2012, Lin 2016. Those studies that have described specific morid species are not many. ...
... The usefulness of otoliths in interpreting and determining bony fish assemblages has been unquestionably corroborated in numerous studies such as Breard & Stringer (1995), Girone (2003), Huddleston & Savoie (1983), Lin (2016), Lin et al. (2016), Nolf (1985Nolf ( , 2003bNolf ( , 2013, Nolf & Brzobo-haty (1994), Nolf & Stringer (1996), Schwarzhans (1993Schwarzhans ( , 1996Schwarzhans ( , 2003Schwarzhans ( , 2010, Schwarzhans et al. (2018aSchwarzhans et al. ( , 2018b, Stringer (1992Stringer ( , 1998a, Stringer et al. (2016Stringer et al. ( , 2018 as well as many other references contained in the aforementioned publications. For example, Breard & Stringer (1995) in a study of the late Eocene Yazoo Clay in Louisiana reported 12 actinopterygians based on skeletal remains (primarily teeth). ...
... There are a number of studies of otoliths from modern sediments that have indicated that otoliths generally reflect fishes that are found in an area (Gaemers 1978;Wigley & Stinton 1973;Stringer 1992;Fierstine, Huddleston & Takeuchi 2012;Schwarzhans 2013;Lin 2016;Lin et al. 2016;Lin et al. 2017). Investigations of the otoliths of Recent sea bottoms sediments have been greatly facilitated by taxonomic studies of modern fish otoliths or include modern fish otoliths such as those by Schwarzhans (1993), Schwarzhans (1999), Smale et al. (1995), Rivaton & Bourret (1999), Campana (2004), Veen & Hoedemakers (2005), Furlani et al. (2007), Florida Fish andWildlife Conservation Commission (2007), Tuset et al. (2008), McBride et al. (2010, Lin & Chang (2012), Nolf (2013), Schwarzhans (2013), and Schwarzhans & Aguilera (2013. ...
Bulk sampling and extensive, systematic surface collecting of the Coon Creek Member of the Ripley Formation (early Maastrichtian) at the Blue Springs locality and primarily bulk sampling of the Owl Creek Formation (late Maastrichtian) at the Owl Creek type locality, both in northeast Mississippi, USA, have produced the largest and most highly diversified actinopterygian otolith (ear stone) assemblage described from the Mesozoic of North America. The 3,802 otoliths represent 30 taxa of bony fishes representing at least 22 families. In addition, there were two different morphological types of lapilli, which were not identifiable to species level. The large number of otolith specimens as well as the preservation contributed to the recognition of 4 new genera and 13 new species. The otoliths supplied information regarding the presence of bony fishes not available solely on the basis of osteological remains, and the Late Cretaceous bony fish assemblage at the sites would be underestimated and misinterpreted without an examination of the otoliths. The otoliths also contributed evidence on the evolutionary development of teleosts in North America, especially the diversity of the beryciforms in the Late Cretaceous, and provided indications of the paleoecology during the Maastrichtian. The Ripley Formation (Coon Creek Member) otolith assemblage, which accounted for 3,718 of the specimens, is compared to other Cretaceous otolith assemblages in North America that meet certain criteria (employed bulk-sampling techniques, had well-preserved specimens, and possessed a substantial number of specimens and taxa for analysis). These sites were in Alabama, Maryland, Mississippi (two localities), New Jersey, North Carolina, North Dakota, Tennessee, and Texas. Systematic surface collecting at the Blue Springs locality proved to be very beneficial in supplying otoliths specimens from maturer fishes. Many of the surface-collected oto-liths represent older adult fishes that assist with the identification of several forms with greater specificity.
... Fish otoliths are a significant biogenic component in superficial sea bottom sediments (Schwarzhans, 2013a;Lin, 2016;Lin et al., 2016Lin et al., , 2017b; their nearly ubiquitous nature in marine sediments is of particular interest to paleontological studies. Geologically young sea bottom otolith assemblages are likely to contain only the extant taxa (Lin et al., 2017b). ...
Despite extensive studies on the taxonomy of fossil otoliths, the diversity of late Quaternary to Recent sea bottom otolith assemblages remains largely unexplored. Otolith assemblages from bottom sediments of the North-eastern Atlantic (NE Atlantic), central Mediterranean, and Red Sea were described based on a dataset of 9696 identifiable otoliths. Diversity estimators were computed and taxonomic compositions were compared against geographical site and depth gradient. Several species from the Red Sea show previously unnoticed range extensions or ancient occurrences, suggesting that the otolith assemblage requires further exploration in this region. The diversity is high in the NE Atlantic and central Mediterranean, whereas Red Sea assemblages are dominated by few taxa. We find that, departing from Modern fish communities, the richness of otolith taxa peaks at mid-water depths (500–1500 m) and decreases at depths > 2000 m. The lower diversity at shallow water suggests environments not favorable for otolith preservation. The assemblages are geographically distinct, due to unique combinations of mesopelagic taxa specific to each sample area, though areas in the central Mediterranean and middle-latitude NE Atlantic share many taxa. Depth does not seem to structure otolith assemblages in the central Mediterranean because the otolith composition in this region is highly variable at depths < 500 m but poorly variable at greater depths. The discrepancies between otolith thanatocoenoses and fossil assemblages and the potential application for reconstructing ancient fish communities are discussed. Illustrating otoliths that are rarely found in the literature, this study is the first descriptive and comparative diversity analysis on Recent otolith assemblages for the regions of interest.
... In northern Italy, Tortonian deposits yielding fish otolith are known and have been studied for more than a century (Bassoli 1906;Anfossi & Mosna 1969a, 1969bRobba 1970;Anfossi & Mosna 1971;Nolf & Steurbaut 1983;Girone et al. 2010;Lin et al. 2015;Lin 2016), revealing an otolith-based fish fauna of about 100 taxa. The fauna from this area thus became the best known in the Mediterranean Basin. ...
The Tortonian fish otoliths of northern Italy have been studied for more than a century and represent one of the best known otolith-based teleost faunas in the Miocene of the Mediterranean Basin. Yet with the growing knowledge on Recent otoliths, an updated taxonomic overview of this fauna is needed. Moreover, new material from hemipelagic Tortonian marls sampled at nine localities is described herein, revealing 109 taxa of which 88 are recognised at species level. Four of these are new: Coryphaenoides biobtusus sp. nov., “Merluccius” rattazzii sp. nov., Neobythites auriculatus sp. nov. and Lesueurigobius stironensis sp. nov. The compilation of previously studied and newly acquired material revealed a total of 118 nominal Tortonian species. At generic level, the fauna is characterised by many modern forms; more than 90% can be assigned to present day genera. At species level, however, more than half of the represented taxa are extinct. Based on the fossil otolith record, the Tortonian fauna of the Mediterranean is most similar to that of the Langhian (Badenian) of the Central Paratethys by sharing many extinct Miocene species, but it is also very close to that of the Pliocene Mediterranean, by sharing many modern Atlantic-Mediterranean forms. The Tortonian fauna is further characterised by many species that are apparently confined to the upper Miocene, resulting in a unique combination of its taxonomic composition.
... Here we present the first comprehensive study of otolith death-assemblages from bottom sediments in the Mediterranean Sea over a consistent bathymetric range from subtidal to bathyal depths. Our exercise sets a Mediterranean baseline to investigate the temporal relationships between otolith occurrence in sediments and fish distribution in the most recent past, in analogy with the scant literature on the subject (e.g., Elder et al., 1996;Gaemers and Vorren, 1985;Lin, 2016;Lin et al., 2016a;Schwarzhans, 2013, with references therein). Goals of this study are the evaluation of the ecological consistency between time-averaged death-assemblages and present fish distribution in the Mediterranean and to provide some qualitative information on taphonomy of otoliths under submarine conditions. ...
Otoliths represent a significant biogenic carbonate component in marine sediments that may provide valuable information for paleoenvironmental and biogeographic reconstructions. In spite of their importance, relatively little is still known about the taxonomic composition, abundance and early taphonomic characteristics of recent otolith death-assemblages, which would add to their value to interpret situations in the geological record. Here we present data on the distribution of fish otoliths from bottom sediments collected in the central Mediterranean Sea ranging in depth from 51 to 3300 m. The preservation of otoliths ranges from fresh semi-translucent (white) specimens to dull-coloured (dark) ones, although whitish specimens are predominant across all the samples. This diversity in lustre and colour and at times texture reflects the degree of early taphonomic processes undergone by these aragonitic bodies post-mortem under submarine conditions, never being exposed to diagenetic processes on-land. In general, a correlation with depth is observed, with best preservation observed in otoliths sampled at depths < 500 m, while more degraded specimens occur deeper. In the upper depth range (< 500 m), a substantial number of benthic and benthopelagic taxa is counted with respect to mesopelagic taxa, which prevail from 500 down to 3300 m. The taxonomic composition and relative abundance of each taxon of otolith death-assemblages at various depths conform well to the distribution of related Mediterranean modern fish communities. The occurrence of pre-modern subfossil taxa in the death-assemblages is evidenced at some bathyal sites by the overwhelming presence of many highly-degraded (worn, chalky, opaque and patinated) otoliths and locally extinct species. This is the case of Protomyctophum arcticum, a mesopelagic myctophid absent in the modern Mediterranean Basin that represents an Atlantic Pleistocene ‘cold guest’ fish in the Pleistocene of this basin.
