diversity Review A Review of Galaxias (Galaxiidae) Fossils from the Southern Hemisphere Uwe Kaulfuss 1,2,*, Daphne E. Lee 2,*, Jeffrey H. Robinson 2 , Graham P. Wallis 3 and Werner W. Schwarzhans 4 1 Department of Animal Evolution and Biodiversity, University of Göttingen, 37073 Göttingen, Germany 2 Department of Geology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; jeff
[email protected] 3 Department of Zoology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand;
[email protected] 4 Natural History Museum of Denmark, 2100 Copenhagen, Denmark;
[email protected] * Correspondence:
[email protected] (U.K.);
[email protected] (D.E.L.); Tel.: +64-03-4797525 (D.E.L.) Received: 24 April 2020; Accepted: 21 May 2020; Published: 25 May 2020 Abstract: The Galaxiidae is a Southern Hemisphere family of freshwater fish, considered to be of Gondwanan origin based on the current distribution of species in New Zealand, Australia (including Tasmania), New Caledonia, Africa, South America, and on some associated and subantarctic islands. The fossil record of galaxiids is extremely sparse and geographically restricted. The only galaxiid fossils currently known come from several Miocene lakes in southern New Zealand. They include more than 100 articulated fishes, some remarkably preserving soft parts such as eyes and skin, skulls and jaw components, and more than 200 isolated otoliths. Common coprolites and in situ preserved gut content at one site (Foulden Maar) indicate the different diets of larvae and adult fish. These discoveries reveal a diverse Galaxias fauna, the presence of lake-locked populations, ontogenetic diet shifts, and representatives of several non-migratory Galaxias lineages associated with inland streams and lakes.