Dercetis (meaning "throat whale") is a genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish. It is the type genus of the family Dercetidae, a group of slender, elongate aulopiform fish, which were related to modern lizardfish and grinners. It is known from the Late Cretaceous of Europe, the Middle East, and western North America.[1]
The following species are known:[2] [3]
Small Dercetis specimens corresponding to indeterminate species are known from the Turonian of the Czech Republic and Mexico.
The initial type species, D. scutatus Agassiz, 1834 from the Campanian of Germany (Baumberge Formation), is known from a now-lost specimen and is thus considered a nomen nudum. D. elongatus, which is now treated as the type species of the genus, was initially classified into Dercetis, then reclassified into the now-defunct genus Leptotrachelus before being reclassified back into Dercetis. The same treatment occurred for D. triqueter. Many other dercetid taxa were initially classified into Dercetis before being moved to their own genera. Other indeterminate taxa dubiously classified into Dercetis, but with no reclassification yet, include D. reussi Fristch, 1878 from the Czech Republic and D. latiscutatus Woodward, 1903 & D. maximus Woodward, 1903 from England.
As suggested by its name, D. magnificus is the largest species of the genus, and possibly one of the largest dercetids, with the potential to grow to one meter in length. It inhabited open marine environments of the northern Western Interior Seaway.