Cimolichthys

Fossil of Cimolichthys nepaholica at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science

• North America ( Manitoba, Kansas, Wyoming)
• Europe (England, Belgium and the Netherlands)

Cimolichthys is an extinct genus of fish belonging to the order Eidechsenfisch relatives ( Aulopiformes ) that lived in the Cretaceous period. So far, two species of the genus have been described, the type species C. levesiensis whose fossils comes from Western European chalk formations, and C. nepaholica whose fossils have been found in North America.

Features

Cimolichthys was a large, up to two meters long expectant predator. The genus had a long, streamlined body and a small head with a pointed snout. Both jaws were filled with sharp teeth. Along the side line stretched a series of small bones shields. Larger bone shields were on the front back of the head to the dorsal fin. The caudal fin was very large and forked.

System

Cimolichthys is now assigned as the only genus of the order monotypic family Cimolichthyidae the order of the lizard fish relatives ( Aulopiformes ). Together with the related and also extinct Enchodontidae, Peter C. Goody it in the subordination Cimolichthyoidei. Joseph S. Nelson, author of the standard work on fish systematics Fishes of the World, provides both extinct families with five extant families of lizards filefishes in the subordination Alepisauroidei.