Colobodus Explained

Colobodus is an extinct genus of marine Triassic ray-finned fish of the family Colobodontidae and order Perleidiformes. Fossils have been found in Europe (France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Switzerland) and China, encompassing the former Tethys Ocean.^[1] It could reach body lengths of about .^[2]

The original type species was Colobodus hogardi Agassiz, 1844, the fossils of which are probably destroyed, therefore the new type species C. bassanii was designated.^[3]

Taxonomy

The following species are known:^[4]

• C. bassanii de Alessandri, 1910 - Late Anisian of Italy & Switzerland (Besano Formation)
• C. maximus (Quenstedt, 1867) - Anisian of Italy (Besano Formation), Anisian to Carnian of Germany (Muschelkalk)
• C. praemaximus Corroy, 1928 - Early Triassic of France
• C. koenigi Stolley, 1920 - Late Anisian of Germany (Muschelkalk) (possibly synonymous with C. bassanii)
• C. baii Sun et al., 2008 - Anisian of Guizhou, China^[5]
• C. giganteus (Beltan, 1972) - Late Ladinian of Spain (Muschelkalk)
• C. wushaensis Li et al., 2019 - Carnian of Guizhou, China^[6]

Several other species (C. stensioei, C. dealessandrii, C. stolleyi, C. cyclolepis, and C. anguillalepis) were proposed by Mutter (2002) from a single fossiliferous level from the Besano Formation, although their validity is uncertain due to the extreme morphological variety within the group.

Records of Colobodus exist outside of Europe and China, but these remains are thought to be highly questionable.

Synonyms

• Colobodus altilepis Woodward, 1912 → Perleidus woodwardi (Woodward, 1912)
• Colobodus scutatus Gervais, 1852 → Bobasatrania scutata (Gervais, 1852)

See also

• Prehistoric fish
• List of prehistoric bony fish

Notes and References

1. Romano . Carlo . Koot . Martha B. . Kogan . Ilja . Brayard . Arnaud . Minikh . Alla V. . Brinkmann . Winand . Bucher . Hugo . Kriwet . Jürgen . 2016 . Permian-Triassic Osteichthyes (bony fishes): diversity dynamics and body size evolution (supplementary material) . Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society . 91 . 1 . 106–147 . 10.1111/brv.12161 . 1469-185X . 25431138.
2. Book: Rieppel. O.. 2019. Mesozoic Sea Dragons: Triassic Marine Life from the Ancient Tropical Lagoon of Monte San Giorgio. 54. 10.2307/j.ctvd58t86. 978-0253040114. Indiana University Press. 241534158 .
3. Cartnayà . Joan . Fortuny . Josep . Bolet . Arnau . Mutter . Raoul Jossua . 2015 . Colobodus giganteus (Beltan, 1972) comb. nov. from the Upper Muschelkalk facies of Catalonia (NE Iberian Peninsula) . Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie, Abhandlungen . 278 . 3 . 323–333 . 10.1127/njgpa/2015/0532.
4. Web site: PBDB Taxon . 2024-06-03 . paleobiodb.org.
5. Zuoyu . Sun . Tintori . Andrea . Lombardo . Cristina . Dayong . Jiang . Weicheng . Hao . Yuanlin . Sun . Feixiang . Wu . Rusconi . Marco . 2008-11-30 . A NEW SPECIES OF THE GENUS COLOBODUS AGASSIZ, 1844 (OSTEICHTHYES, ACTINOPTERYGII) FROM THE PELSONIAN (ANISIAN, MIDDLE TRIASSIC)OF GUIZHOU, SOUTH CHINA . Rivista Italiana di Paleontologia e Stratigrafia . en . 114 . 3 . 10.13130/2039-4942/5908 . 2039-4942.
6. Li . Ji . Luo . Yongming . Wang . Yue . Xu . Guangfu . Ma . Zhiheng . 2019 . A New Discovery of Colobodus Agassiz, 1844 (Colobodontidae) from the Carnian (Upper Triassic) of Guizhou, South China . Acta Geologica Sinica - English Edition . en . 93 . 6 . 1967–1968 . 10.1111/1755-6724.13832 . 2019AcGlS..93.1967L . 1000-9515.