Syngnathus acus Pipefish Fossil
Class Actinopterygii, Order Syngnathiformes, Family Syngnathidae, Subfamily Syngnathinae
Geological Time: Lower Pliocene
Size: 184 mm in length
Fossil Site: Marecchia River Formation, Poggio Berni, Rimimini Province, Italy
 This
is a fine specimen of an extinct fish from order Syngnathiformes.
Pipefish is the common name whose derivation is quite evident. The
tubular mouth shows that these members of the Syngnathiformes fed
on small Crustaceans and such, much as their modern day relatives
Seahorses and Pipefishes. The genus is still extant today, found in
in subtropical and tropical waters in various parts of the world.
This is a great representative example of this rarely-offered taxon.
Fish fossils at the site are commonly found similarly aligned, suggesting
post-mortem positioning by undersea currents in their depositional
environment. |
