AGUILERA, Orangel A., Werner SCHWARZHANS and Philippe BÉAREZ:
Otoliths of the Sciaenidae from the Neogene of tropical America

1. Introduction 9
2. Recent comparative material 10
3. Otolith terminology 10
4. Depository, conventions and techniques applied 10
5. Acknowledgements 11
6. Regional Geology and Localities 11
7. Systematic Part 22
Family Sciaenidae 22
Subfamily Pachyurinae 22
Subfamily Protosciaeninae 22
Genus Protosciaena 24
Protosciaena brasiliensis 24
Protosciaena neritica 24
Protosciaena trewavasae 24
“Protosciaena” bathytatos 24
Subfamily Sciaeninae 24
Tribe Ctenosciaenini 24
Genus Ctenosciaena 25
Ctenosciaena gracilicirrhus 25
Ctenosciaena peruviana 25
Tribe Pogoniini new tribe 25
Genus †Amazonasciaena n. gen 26
†Amazonasciaena rossettiae 26
Genus Aplodinotus 26
Aplodinotus hoffmani 26
Aplodinotus santosi 28
Genus Sciaenops 28
Sciaenops reyesi 28
Sciaenops sp. 28
Tribe Sciaenini 28
Genus Callaus 30
Callaus cubaguanus 30
Genus †Frizzellithus 30
†Frizzellithus longecaudatus 30
Genus Umbrina 31
Umbrina abbreviata n. sp. 31
Umbrina bananensis n. sp. 31
Umbrina laxa n. sp. 31
Umbrina opima n. sp. 32
Umbrina sublima n. sp. 34
Umbrina surda n. sp. 34
Umbrina sp. 34
Tribe Equetini 36
Genus †Equetulus 36
†Equetulus amazonensis 36
†Equetulus davidandrewi 36
†Equetulus fitchi 36
Genus Pareques 38
Pareques jungi 38
Tribe Menticirrhini new tribe 38
Genus Menticirrhus 38
Menticirrhus chaoi 38
Menticirrhus sp. 38
Tribe Lonchurini 39
Genus Lonchurus 39
Lonchurus lanceolatus 39
Genus Paralonchurus 39
Paralonchurus rathbuni 39
Genus Polycirrhus 39
Polycirrhus jaramilloi n. sp. 39
Polycirrhus mustus n. sp. 40
Polycirrhus schwarzhansi 40
Polycirrhus trinidadensis 42
Subfamily Laminae 42
Tribe Larimini 42
Genus Larimus 42
Larimus angosturae n. sp. 42
Larimus argenteus 44
Larimus breviceps 44
Larimus fasciatus 45
Larimus gatunensis 45
Larimus humboldti n. sp. 45
Larimus pacificus 46
Larimus pandus n. sp. 46
Larimus sp. 146
Larimus sp. 246
Genus Nebris 48
Nebris dioneae n. sp. 48
Nebris sp. (juveniles) 48
Genus Paranebris 48
Paranebris bauchotae 48
Paranebris steurbauti 50
Genus †Protonebris n. gen. 50
†Protonebris sanchezi n. sp. 50
Subfamily Cynoscioninae 51
Tribe Cynoscionini 51
Genus Cynoscion 51
Cynoscion analis 51
Cynoscion arenarius 51
Cynoscion latiostialis n. sp. 51
Cynoscion nothus 52
Cynoscion prolixus n. sp. 52
Cynoscion scitulus n. sp. 54
Cynoscion sp. 54
Genus Isopisthus 55
Isopisthus acer n. sp. 55
Isopisthus remifer 55
Genus Macrodon 55
Macrodon spina 55
Genus Plagioscion 55
Plagioscion marinus 55
Plagioscion travassosi 56
Plagioscion urumacoensis 56
Plagioscion ultimus n. sp. 56
Tribe Atractoscionini 58
Genus Atractoscion 58
Atractoscion odeai n. sp. 58
Subfamily Micropogoniinae 60
Tribe Micropogoniini 60
Genus Micropogonias 60
Micropogonias altipinnis 60
Micropogonias coatesi 60
Micropogonias furnieri 60
Subfamily Stelliferinae 60
Genus †Protolarimus 61
†Protolarimus henrici 61
†Protolarimus lundbergi 61
†Protolarimus? mauryae 62
Tribe Odontoscionini 62
Genus Bairdiella 62
Bairdiella ronchus 62
Bairdiella sp. 64
Genus Odontoscion 64
Odontoscion dentex 64
Tribe Stelliferini 64
Genus Ophioscion 64
Ophioscion amphiamericanus n. sp. 64
Ophioscion inflaticauda n. sp. 66
Ophioscion transitivus n. sp. 68
Genus Stellifer 68
Stellifer abbreviatus n. sp. 68
Stellifer acerbus n. sp. 69
Stellifer bicornutus n. sp. 69
Stellifer depressifrons n. sp. 70
Stellifer onzole n. sp. 70
Lapilli of Stelliferini 72
Ophioscion sp. (lapillus) 72
Stellifer sp. (lapillus) 72
Tribe indet. of Stelliferinae 74
Genus †Xenotolithus 74
†Xenotolithus retrolobatus 74
†Xenotolithus sasakii 74
†Xenotolithus semiostialis n. sp. 74
†Xenotolithus sineostialis n. sp. 75
8. Faunal reconstruction 75
8.1 Sciaenid otoliths from the Neogene of tropical America – expression from a center of diversity 75
8.2 Miocene sciaenid otoliths in South American as indicators of the paleoenvironment 78
8.3 Tropical American sciaenid lineages that became extinct during Neogene 79
8.4 Amphi-American sciaenid species and geminate sciaenid species pairs 83
9. References 85

SCHWARZHANS, Werner and Orangel A. AGUILERA:
Otoliths of the Ophidiiformes from the Neogene of tropical America

1. Introduction 93
2. Recent comparative material 93
3. Otolith terminology 94
4. Depository, conventions and techniques applied 94
5. Acknowledgements 94
6. Regional Geology and Localities 94
7. Systematic Part 95
Genus Snyderidia 95
Snyderidia canina 95
Genus Carapus 95
Carapus bermudensis 95
Carapus sp. 95
Genus Echiodon 95
Echiodon sp.95
Genus Cherublemma 96
Cherublemma emmelas 96
Genus Lepophidium 96
Lepophidium borbonensis n. sp 96
Lepophidium crebrum n. sp. 99
Lepophidium gentilis n. sp. 100
Lepophidium hubbsi 100
Lepophidium latesulcatum 101
Lepophidium limulum n. sp. 102
Lepophidium marmoratum 104
Lepophidium pardale 104
Lepophidium refugum n. sp. 104
Lepophidium brevibarbe species group 106
Lepophidium leai n. sp. 106
Lepophidium negropinna 107
Tribe Ophidiini 107
Genus Chilara 107
Chilara taylori 107
Ophidion 107
Ophidion fulvum species group 108
Ophidion aff. fulvum 108
Ophidion muraenolepis species group 108
Ophidion pauxillicauda n. sp. 108
Ophidion barbatum species group 110
Ophidion bowdenensis n. sp. 110
Ophidion sp. 1 110
Ophidion holbrooki species group 110
Ophidion sporoformis n. sp. 110
Ophidion sp. 2 110
Genus Otophidium 111
Otophidium lacinum 111
Otophidium robinsi 112
Otophidium robustum 112
Genus Parophidion 112
Parophidion schmidti 112
Genus Brotula 112
Brotula sp. 112
Genus Bassozetus 114
Bassozetus sp. 114
Genus Lamprogrammus 114
Lamprogrammus manzanilla n. sp. 114
Genus Neobythites 114
Neobythites huddlestoni n. sp. 114
Neobythites marginatus 116
Neobythites multiocellatus 116
Genus Pycnocraspedum 116
Pycnocraspedum sp. 116
Family Bythitidae 117
Genus Calamopteryx 117
Calamopteryx smithvanizi 117
Calamopteryx sp. 1 117
Calamopteryx sp. 2 117
Genus Cataetyx 117
Cataetyx stringeri n. sp. 117
Cataetyx sp. 117
Tribe Dinematichthyini 118
Genus Ogilbia 118
Ogilbia brasiliensis 118
Genus Ogilbichthys 119
Ogilbichthys dariensis n. sp. 119
Ogilbichthys sauli 119
Ogilbichthys sp. 119
8. Faunal reconstruction 120
8.1 The Neogene of tropical America as a young center of diversity of ophidiiform fishes 120
8.2 Amphi-American species and allopatric speciation 121
9. References 123

This now is the second compendium of articles dealing with the fossil otoliths that were collected from Central America during several decades. Following the initial study of the otoliths of the mesopelagic lantern fishes (Myctophidae) published as the first part of the ongoing investigations in Palaeo Ichthyologica volume 13 (SCHWARZHANS & AGUILERA, 2013) and a review of the otoliths of the marine catfish family Ariidae (AGUILERA, MORAES-SANTOS, COSTA, OHE, JARAMILLO & NOGUIERA, 2013), we are now covering the drum fishes (Sciaenidae) and cusk eels (Ophidiiformes).

Most of the otoliths studied for this compendium were obtained from young Neogene strata, chiefly of late Miocene (Tortonian) to middle Pleistocene (Calabrian) age. Clearly, one has to expect many Recent species to be retrieved from so young strata. Therefore, a good command of the otoliths of the relevant extant fishes of the region (and beyond) is a prerequisite for everybody attempting to identify such otolith assemblages. Consequently we have focused first on selected groups of fishes for which adequate knowledge of Recent otoliths is available or could be made available with reasonable efforts. Fortunately, they are also the most common and diverse groups of fishes and they represent the prime environments sampled, as is exemplified in the graph below.

We plan to continue with our task of describing the Neogene otoliths of tropical America in further studies. However, the knowledge base is often much less comprehensive of otoliths of extant species of those fish families still outstanding and therefore identifications at the species level may not always be possible in the extent desirable. It is our aim to try to accomplish an adequate data base of pertinent Recent species as good as possible in the course of our quest to extract the maximum possible information of this extraordinary collection.

Orangel Aguilera and Werner Schwarzhans
Niteroi and Hamburg, May 15^th 2015