"Pholidophorus argentinus" DOLGOPOL DE SAEZ, 1939, from Upper Jurassic beds of the Neuquén Province of Argentina, is not a pholidophoriform but an aspidorhynchid (Actinopterygii, Aspidorhynchiformes)

GOUIRIC CAVALLI, SOLEDAD; ALBERTO LUIS CIONE

Mesozoic Fishes 5

Verlag Dr. Friedrich Pfeil

Lugar: Münich; Año: 2013; p. 177 - 186

The Late Jurassic marine deposits of Argentina host a diverse fish fauna that is currently under study. One of the species is Pholidophorus argentinus DOLGOPOL DE SAEZ, 1939, which is based on the caudal region of a single specimen collected in the Neuquén Basin. Here we propose that the material comes from the Picún Leufú Formation of the Neuquén Basin. DOLGOPOL DE SAEZ assigned the fish to Pholidophorus AGASSIZ on the basis of a combination of characters that were preliminarily revised by one of us (AC) several years ago. It was concluded that the type specimen did not present any diagnostic character to justify erection of a different species or to allow an assignment to the genus Pholidophorus s. str. Consequently, the specimen was referred to as Halecomorphi indet. A detailed anatomical study of the holotype permits us now to assign it to the Family Aspidorhynchidae. It is remarkable that the caudal anatomy, especially the fin rays, of this family is scarcely known. In fact, this is the first description of the caudal fin of a Jurassic aspidorhynchid from the Southern Hemisphere.