Fishes from the Eocene of Bolca, northern Italy, previously classifi ed in the Sparidae, Serranidae and Haemulidae (Perciformes) Alexandre F. BANNIKOV Paleontological Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences, Profsoyuznaya 123, Moscow 117997 (Russia)
[email protected] Bannikov A. F. 2006. — Fishes from the Eocene of Bolca, northern Italy, previously classifi ed in the Sparidae, Serranidae and Haemulidae (Perciformes). Geodiversitas 28 (2) : 249-275. ABSTRACT A revision of the type specimens of the Eocene fi sh species described by Agassiz from Bolca (Italy) and deposited in the Muséum national d’Histoire naturelle, Paris, revealed that the putative Eocene sparids include the monotypic genera Abromasta (with the species A. microdon (Agassiz, 1839)), Pseudosparnodus (with the species P. microstomus (Agassiz, 1839)), and less defi nitely Ellaserrata (with the species E. monksi Day, 2003), in addition to the genus Sparnodus with two species, S. vulgaris (Blainville, 1818) and S. elongatus Agassiz, 1839. Th e validity of the latter is restored. Dentex leptacanthus Agassiz, 1839 and D. crassispinus Agassiz, 1839 are redescribed in detail and recognized as lutjanids rather than sparids, with the new species combinations Ottaviania leptacanthus n. comb. and Goujetia crassispina n. comb. respectively. Dentex ventralis Agassiz, 1839 is regarded as a nomen dubium. Serranus ventralis Agassiz, 1839, previously thought to be a synonym of Sparnodus elongatus, is described as the lutjanid Veranichthys ventralis n. comb.; the species name Serranus rugosus Heckel, 1854, usually regarded as valid, is actually its junior synonym. Th us, the genus Serranus is absent in the Bolca fauna. Th e family Lutjanidae is represented in KEY WORDS the Bolca fi sh assemblage by at least four species in three genera (Ottaviania Perciformes, Percoidei, Sorbini, 1983, Goujetia n.