MORPHOLOGY AND RELATIONSHIPS OF NEOCASSANDRA MICA DANILTSHENKO, 1968 (PISCES; AULOPIFORMES; NEOCASSANDRIDAE FAM. NOV.) FROM THE LATE PALEOCENE OF TURKMENISTAN

Abstract

Neocassandra mica Daniltshenko, 1968 from the Late Paleocene of Turkmenistan is revised and assigned to the order Aulopiformes. However, it substantially differs from all members of the order in the following characters: the snout is very short; the supraorbital and orbitosphenoid are absent; jaw dentition is weak the ventral ramus of the preopercle is reduced; the subopercle is large; the body is short and deep; the vertebral column consists of 30 vertebrae, including 12 abdominal vertebrae; the dorsal fin includes a small number of rays and lacks elongated rays; the scale cover is well developed; the fulcral scales are absence; and the caudal skeleton includes two strongly shortened epurals. Thus, Neocassandra should be ranked as a separate family. Phylogenetic relationships of Neocassandra and related forms are discussed.