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Issue: Vol. 5719 No. 1: 11 Nov. 2025
Type: Article
Published: 2025-11-11
DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.5719.1.6
Page range: 117-125
Abstract views: 42
PDF downloaded: 9

A new species of the surgeonfish genus †Caprovesposus (Acanthuridae) from the Lower to Middle Miocene of the North Caucasus, Russia

Borissiak Paleontological Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences; Profsoyuznaya 123; Moscow 117647; Russia
Department of Vertebrate Zoology; National Museum of Natural History; Smithsonian Institution; Washington; D.C. 20560 USA
Department of Vertebrate Zoology; National Museum of Natural History; Smithsonian Institution; Washington; D.C. 20560 USA
Pisces Caprovesposus daniltshenkoi acronurus presettlement stage Maikopian upper Lower to lower Middle Miocene Krasnodar Region Pshekha River surgeonfish

Abstract

A new species of fossil surgeonfish, †Caprovesposus daniltshenkoi sp. nov., is described based upon two specimens from the terminal Maikopian (upper Lower to lower Middle Miocene; not less than 15 mya) in the northwestern Caucasus. The specimens were excavated from brownish gray clays in the bank of the Pshekha River in the Krasnodar Region of Apsheronsk District, Russia. Both specimens are in the acronurus presettlement stage of development and are placed within the formerly monotypic genus †Caprovesposus based upon their possession of vertically elongated, needle-like scales on the body. They differ from the Oligocene †Caprovesposus parvus Daniltshenko, 1960 in (1) lacking serrations on the frontal, mesethmoid, preopercle, and basipterygium; and (2) having the vertically elongated, needle-like scales only on the anterior and middle portions of the body, rather than on the entire body. Three additional, previously collected specimens from the Caucasus and Crimea are referred to the new species.

 

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How to Cite

Bannikov, A.F., Tyler, J.C. & Tyler, D.M. (2025) A new species of the surgeonfish genus †Caprovesposus (Acanthuridae) from the Lower to Middle Miocene of the North Caucasus, Russia. Zootaxa, 5719 (1), 117–125. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5719.1.6