A fossil dreamer of the genus Oneirodes (Lophiiformes: Ceratioidei) from the Miocene of Sakhalin Island, Russia

• Published in: Geological Magazine
• Main Authors: Nazarkin, Mikhail V., Pietsch, Theodore W.
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 2020
• Subjects: Geology; Sakhalin
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0016756820000588; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0016756820000588

Abstract The almost complete skeleton of a fossil dreamer, identified as Oneirodes sp., is described from the middle–upper Miocene Kurasi Formation of southern Sakhalin Island, Russia. This is the second fossil skeletal record of oneirodid anglerfishes following those described from the Puente Formation of California, USA. The new specimen possesses morphological features very similar to those of the recent and fossil members of its genus, and cannot be separated from them at the species level. This finding confirms the idea of the high level of speciation of this fish family prior to the middle–late Miocene and demonstrates the wide geographic distribution of the genus Oneirodes already at this time.