Scorpaena prior
| Scorpaena prior | ||||||||||||
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Scorpaena prior (copy NHMW 1988/0140/49 from the excavation in 1987) |
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| Temporal occurrence | ||||||||||||
| Middle Miocene (Upper Badenian ) | ||||||||||||
| about 14.0 to 13.5 million years | ||||||||||||
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| Systematics | ||||||||||||
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| Scientific name | ||||||||||||
| Scorpaena prior | ||||||||||||
| Heckel in Heckel & Kner , 1861 | ||||||||||||
Scorpaena prior is an extinct species of the recently still existing genus Scorpaena within the family of scorpion fish (Scorpaenidae). Fossil finds come from the Miocene Leitha limestone from Sankt Margarethen in Burgenland ( Austria ) and possibly also from Hungary .
Research history
The first description of the species based on an only moderately well-preserved specimen was published in 1861 in the "Memoranda of the Imperial Academy of Sciences ". The treatise, which contained descriptions of several fossil fish from the territory of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy , had been started by Johann Jakob Heckel , but initially remained unfinished after his death in 1857.
Rudolf Kner expressed surprise at the seemingly arbitrary compilation of fossil fish, which did not reveal any spatial, temporal or systematic connection, but considered it his duty to complete and close the half-finished manuscript in honor of his deceased colleague at the Kuk Hof Natural History Cabinet publish. In the foreword to the publication, Kner mentioned that he had found finished drawings of all species to be described and also complete descriptions of several species in Heckel's documents. Scorpaena prior does not appear in a list of the completed descriptions given by Kner, but he ascribed the first description to Heckel.
The location of this first specimen is only given very imprecisely in the first description as "Leithaschichten der Wiener Tertiergebilde". This probably refers to the Leithakalk deposits near Sankt Margarethen in Burgenland , but theoretically corresponding deposits of Fertőrákos near Sopron in today's Hungary are also possible. The holotype is now kept under the inventory number NHMW 1979/2127 at the Natural History Museum in Vienna .
In May 1987, under the direction of Ortwin Schultz, a targeted fossil excavation was carried out in the Leithakalk quarry of the Kummer company near Sankt Margarethen in Burgenland, which, in addition to numerous other fossil finds, also produced several specimen copies of Scorpaena prior . The new finds, supplemented by two specimens from a private collection, enabled a new description and reassessment of the species, which was published in 1993. The assignment to an independent species of the genus Scorpaena could essentially be confirmed, although a reference to the genus Scorpaenopsis could not be completely excluded.
Age assignment of the finds
The findings of Scorpaena prior come from the banked facies (laminated marl facies ) of the Leithakalke. These deposits can be assigned to the regional Bulimina-Bolivina zone on the basis of the foraminifera fauna and to the NN5b zone on the basis of nannoplankton . Both findings correspond to the Upper Badenium of the regional structure of the central Paratethys and can be equated with the transition from Langhium to Serravallium of the international chronostratigraphic structure, which corresponds to an absolute age of about 14.0-13.5 Ma .
features
Scorpaena prior reached a standard length of up to 20.6 cm with a total length (TL) of up to 25.5 cm.
Scorpaena prior shows extensive correspondence with the genus Scorpaena in all known body characteristics . It is only unclear whether the palatine bone was dentate or not. This essential distinguishing feature between the very similar genera Scorpaena (toothed palatine bone) and Scorpaenopsis (edentulous palatal bone) is not recognizable in any of the specimens on hand. The assignment to the genus Scorpaena is based accordingly on the shape of the dorsal fin , which is divided into two parts , as in all perch- like species . In members of the genus Scorpaenopsis , the anterior and posterior dorsal fin are approximately the same height and, compared to the body height, overall very low, while at least some species of the genus Scorpaena , such as Scorpaena normani , have a significantly higher anterior dorsal fin.
The extremely high anterior dorsal fin of Scorpaena prior can be assessed as a characteristic of the species. The third to fifth spines of the anterior dorsal fin are the longest and about a quarter longer than the soft rays of the posterior dorsal fin. The ratio between body height and the length of the longest dorsal fin spine is only 1.31 in the least deformed specimen of Scorpaena prior (NHMW 1988/0140/29). In the case of the great red scorpionfish ( Scorpaena scrofa ), a typical representative of the genus, the ratio is 2.4 and only Scorpaena normani shows an approximately similar high anterior dorsal fin with an index value of 1.57.
Fin formula : D XII /? 8–9–? 10 A III / 5–6
Paleecology
Most of the recent representatives of the scorpion fish are well camouflaged ambulance hunters , who mainly feed on crabs and smaller fish. Recent representatives of the genus Scorpaena maintain a benthonic way of life and prefer to stay near the coast on rocky, sandy or muddy ground, often also in sea grass meadows , and in water depths of up to a maximum of 800 m.
The Leithakalke are deposits of a carbonate platform that formed during the Badenium in the west of the Central Paratethys in the area of the islands and shallows of today's Leitha Mountains and the Fertőrákos-Rust hill country. The laminated marl facies, an alternation of light yellow calcareous arenites and olive-green marls, was deposited in small, protected depressions on the edge of the carbonate platform and contains a rich fauna of fossil fish and various marine invertebrates , including complete colonies of bryozoans , sea urchins , brachiopods and scallops . The discovery of skeletal remains of a loon ( Gavia schultzi ) should also be mentioned as a special feature .
The rich fish fauna with almost 50 taxa from 37 families is dominated by Scorpaena prior mainly by herring species of the genus Spratelloides and lantern fish of the genus Diaphus , which together make up more than half of all individuals. With regard to the individual taxa, forms with a benthonic way of life and bottom fish of the Neritic zone dominate; next Scorpaena prior inter alia, sea bream of the genera Boop and Dentex , dragonets the genus Callionymus , the parrotfish Calotomus priesli , butterfly fish of the genus Chaetodon , the Junkerlippfisch Coris Sigismundi and with Wainwrightilabrus agassizi and Symphodus westneati two other representatives of the wrasse , groupers genus Epinephelus , the Gaidropsaride Gaidropsarus pilleri , monkfish the genus Lophius , tilefish the genus Malacanthus , the flatfish Miobothus Weissi , mullet the genus Mullus that Seenadelart Nerophis zapfei , the cod Palimphemus anceps , Bigeyes the genus Priacanthus , lizard fish of the genus Synodus , Peter males of the genus Trachinus and the puffer fish Leithaodon sandroi .
A second group of taxa, such as herring species of the genus Spratelloides and Sardinella or garfish of the genus Belone , mackerel of the genus Scomber , jacks of the genus Trachurus and barracudas ( Sphyraena sp. ), Represent fish of the coastal epipelagic . Fish from the pelagic of the open ocean, in addition to the genus Diaphus with Unicorn cod , hake and the basking Cetorhinus parvus represented.
All in all, the paleontological and sedimentological findings speak for a deposit area in coastal depressions with water depths of around 50–60 meters with extensive sea grass meadows and rocky reefs in the immediate vicinity, but also free access to the open sea. The prevailing climate can be characterized as subtropical . Hypoxic conditions often prevailed at the bottom of these basins , possibly triggered by algal blooms of Coccolithus pelagicus and other Coccolithophorida as a result of seasonal, increased nutrient input. The oxygen deficit at the bottom of the basin promoted the formation of fossils and at least partially explains the occasional mass death of schools of fish, sea urchins and other benthonic invertebrates.
Individual evidence
- ↑ a b c J. Heckel & R. Kner: New contributions to the knowledge of fossil fish in Austria. In: Memoranda of the Imperial Academy of Sciences - Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Classe , Volume 19, 1861, pp. 49–76 + 10 plates, ( digitized version ).
- ↑ a b c d e f g h O. Schultz: The evidence of Scorpaena ss (Pisces, Teleostei) in Badenien von St. Margarethen, Burgenland, Austria - revision of Scorpaena prior HECKEL in HECKEL & KNER, 1861. In: Annalen des Natural History Museum Vienna , Volume 95, Series A, 1993, pp. 127–177, ( digitized version )
- ↑ O. Schultz: Pisces. In: Catalogus Fossilium Austriae , Volume 3, Verlag der Österreichischen Akademie der Wissenschaften, Vienna, 2013, ISBN 978-3-7001-7238-3 , p. 259, ( digitized version ).
- ↑ a b c HP Schmid, M. Harzhauser & A. Kroh: Hypoxic Events on a Middle Miocene Carbonate Platform of the Central Paratethys (Austria, Badenian, 14 Ma). In: Annalen des Naturhistorisches Museum Wien , Volume 102 A, 2001, pp. 1-50, ( digitized version ).
- ^ A b c G. Carnevale & JC Tyler: A new pufferfish (Teleostei, Tetraodontidae) from the Middle Miocene of St. Margarethen, Austria. In: Paläontologische Zeitschrift , Volume 89, 2015, pp. 435–447, ( digitized version ).
- ^ SG Poss & WN Eschmeyer: Scorpaenidae. In: KE Carpenter (Ed.): FAO species identification guide for fishery purposes and American Society of Ichthyologists and Herpetologists Special Publication No. 5. The living marine resources of the western central Atlantic. Vol. 2. Bony fishes part 1 (Acipenseridae to Grammatidae) , 2003, p. 1233, ( digitized version ).
- ^ G. Carnevale: Middle Miocene wrasses (Teleostei, Labridae) from St.Margarethen (Burgenland, Austria). In: Palaeontographica Department A , Volume 304, Delivery 1-6, 2015, pp. 124-160, ( abstract ).
- ^ A b G. Carnevale & M. Harzhauser: The Badenian Fish Fauna of St. Margarethen, Eistenstadt-sopron Basin, Burgenland, Central Paratethys: Stratigraphy, Paleoecology and Paleobiogeography. In: RCMNS 14th Congress - Neogene to Quaternary Geological Evolution of Mediterranean, Paratethys and Black Sea , abstract volume, 2013. p. 75, ( digitized ).