Leedsichthys, a giant Jurassic pachycormid

This list of prehistoric bony fish is an attempt to create a comprehensive listing of all genera from the fossil record that have ever been considered to be bony fish (class Osteichthyes), excluding purely vernacular terms. The list includes all commonly accepted genera, but also genera that are now considered invalid, doubtful (nomina dubia), or were not formally published (nomina nuda), as well as junior synonyms of more established names, and genera that are no longer considered members of osteichthyes.

This list includes 1,387 generic names.

Naming conventions and terminology

Naming conventions and terminology follow the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature. Technical terms used include:


This is a dynamic list and may never be able to satisfy particular standards for completeness. You can help by adding missing items with reliable sources.

A

Aetheodontus besanensis
Aipichthys velifer
Amyzon aggregatum
Anaethalion knorri

B

Belonostomus sp.

C

Caturus velifer
Cyranorhis bergeraci
The lantern fish Ceratoscopelus maderensis is a modern representative of a prehistoric genus

D

Dapedium politum specimen from Oxford University Museum of Natural History

E

Eosalmo sp.
Eusthenopteron

F

Furo longiserratus

G

Gabanellia

H

The Opalfish is a modern species of the genus Hemerocoetes (H. monopterygius)

I

J

K

L

Fossil of Lycoptera davidi.

M

Mioplosus labracoides
Mesturus fossil

N

Nursallia gutturosum

O

Obaichthys decoratus

P

Reconstruction of Panderichthys
The northern bastard codling, a modern species of Pseudophycis (P. breviuscula).
Holotype rostrum of Protosphyraena nitida, a successful genus of middle Cretaceous swordfish (from Hay, 1903).
The round whitefish, a modern species of Prosopium (P. cylindraceum)
An example of a modern Pontinus species (P. nematophthalmus)

Q

R

Rhabdofario lacustris

S

Saurichthys

T

Tetragonolepis
Thoracopterus magnificus

U

V

W

X

Xiphactinus

Y

Z

Zoarces viviparus is a modern species of the genus Zoarces

See also

References

Individual sources

  1. ^ Friedman, Matt (August–September 2007). "Styloichthys as the oldest coelacanth: implications for early osteichthyan interrelationships". Journal of Systematic Palaeontology. 5 (3): 289–343. doi:10.1017/S1477201907002052. eISSN 1478-0941. ISSN 1477-2019. S2CID 83712134. ProQuest 218705606, EBSCOhost 2009-011296. Archived from the original on 2024-04-22. Retrieved 2024-04-22.
  2. ^ Edward B. Daeschler; Neil H. Shubin; Farish A. Jenkins, Jr (6 April 2006). "A Devonian tetrapod-like fish and the evolution of the tetrapod body plan". Nature. 440 (7085): 757–763. Bibcode:2006Natur.440..757D. doi:10.1038/nature04639. PMID 16598249.

Compendia

  1. [Sepkoski 2002] Sepkoski, J. John, Jr. "Jack" (September 16, 2002). Jablonski, David; Foote, Michael (eds.). "A Compendium of Fossil Marine Animal Genera". Cl. OSTEICHTHYES. Bulletins of American Paleontology (363): 305-318. ISBN 0-87710-450-6. ISSN 0007-5779. ark:/13960/t7mp59x79. "GF+OSTEICHTEYVES" Archived from the original on 2008-12-11 – via Biodiversity Heritage Library.((cite journal)): CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) As transcribed by: Peters, Shanan (ed.). "1393 genera are assigned to the class OSTEICHTHYES". Sepkoski's Online Genus Database. Archived from the original on 2011-07-23. [This source also includes the names of the orders that the genera are part of, as well as the first and last time period and stage that the genus occurred in. The print version additionally cites sources for taxonomic and stratigraphic information about many of the genera.]