Pleistocene fish otoliths from the Mediterranean Basin: a synthesis

• Published in: Geobios
• Main Authors: Girone, Angela, Nolf, Dirk, Cappetta, Henri
• Other Authors: Dipartimento Geol & Geofis, Università degli studi di Bari Aldo Moro = University of Bari Aldo Moro (UNIBA), Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique = Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences (IRSNB / RBINS), Institut des Sciences de l'Evolution de Montpellier (UMR ISEM), Centre de Coopération Internationale en Recherche Agronomique pour le Développement (Cirad)-École Pratique des Hautes Études (EPHE), Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Sciences et Lettres (PSL)-Université de Montpellier (UM)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR226-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2006
• Subjects: otoliths; paleobiogeography; paleoceanography; Upper Pliocene; Pleistocene; Southern Italy; [SDE.BE.PAL]Environmental Sciences/Biodiversity and Ecology/domain_sde.be.pal; North Atlantic
• Online Access: https://hal.science/halsde-00338764; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.geobios.2005.05.004

International audience An overview of upper pPliocene and Pleistocene otolith assemblages is compiled on the basis of both literature data and newly collected material from several sections located mainly in southern Italy. One hundred and five taxa are listed. Additional comments are provided for taxa subject to discussion. The composition and affinities of the Mediterranean Pleistocene otolith associations (consisting mainly of deep sea fishes) is checked against the available data for Pre-Messinian, Pliocene, and Recent Mediterranean fishes. This analysis is based on the recorded nominal species, but some taxa that could be identified at the generic level only are also included when they are relevant from a biogeographic point of view. Some new data on Piacenzian (middle Pliocene) and Gelasian (upper Pliocene) otoliths are also provided because this time interval still constitutes a major gap in the knowledge of the stratigraphic range of Plio-Pleistocene fish taxa. The Pleistocene deepwater fish fauna of the Mediterranean shows a markedly more oceanic character than the present-day one, a tendency that was all ready observed from early Oligocene till Pliocene times. Starting from the late Piacenzian, an increasing number of Atlantic taxa progressively invaded the Mediterranean including several subpolar and temperate forms. This invasion became stronger in the Gelasian. From this period up to the middle and late Pleistocene, the Mediterranean deepwater fish fauna (mesopelagic and benthopelagic) is enriched by taxa which today are typical for the north Atlantic cold deep water. This faunal shift seems to be correlated with the evolution of the Plio-Pleistocene. Mediterranean paleoceanographic setting as well as with the global climatic deterioration. (c) 2006 Elsevier Masson SAS. All rights reserved.