CRETACEOUS FISHES — DUNKLE ' 273 



Family Gadidae 

 Paractichthys,^ new gemis 



Diagnosis: A fossil genus distinguished from living anacan thine 

 fishes by the following combination of scale characteristics: propor- 

 tionately large, subquadrangular form with central oblong nuclear 

 field and single longitudinal median basal sulcus; peripheral basal 

 circuli more or less longitudinal from apical diagonals to basal scale 

 margin; more proxunal basal circuli crescentic, paralleling the basal 

 border and rather sharply recurved or acutely angulated on approach- 

 ing the median sulcus; and short, sinuous apical circuli diverging 

 slightly to the apical scale border from a faint median longitudinal axis. 



Type species: Paractichythys fihrillatus (Cockerell) {= Petalolepis 

 Jibrillatus Cockerell, 1919). 



Paractichthys Jibrillatus (Cockerell) 



Diagnosis: The same as for the genus (the only species). 



Type : USNM 8662 ; one disassociated scale. 



Geologic and geographic occurrence: Upper Cretaceous Blair 

 formation (middle Campanian, following Cobban and Reeside, 1952) 

 in the NW^NE^ sec. 26, T. 21 N., R. 104 W., Sweetwater County, 

 Wyo. 



Referred specimens: USNM 14517 from the topotypic horizon 

 and locality in Wyoming; and USNM 21898 from the upper Cretaceous 

 Fox Hills sandstone (Maestrichtian), near MHliken, in sec. 23, T. 4 N., 

 R. 67 W., Weld County, Colo. 



Description: Scales generally of moderate size and ranging from 

 examples with equal dimensions to ones longer than deep (measure- 

 ments, in millimeters: 10-17 long by 9-12 deep). In outline, the 

 elements are subquadrangular, although the apical portion was evi- 

 dently weak and the posterior border of the scale is usually preserved 

 with an evenly rounded profile. As here interpreted, the dorsal 

 margin displays a lower convexity than does the ventral one. Anteri- 

 orly these edges diverge slightly from each other to obtuse basal 

 angles. The basal border is of low forward convexity but displays a 

 prominent notched median lobe. The longitudinal axis is situated 

 nearer the doreal border than to the ventral, and the perpendicular 

 of maximum depth lies anteriorly near the vertical plane of the basal 

 angles. 



The oblong nucleus occurs adapical to the middle scale length, 

 along the main longitudinal axis. Neither basal nor apical radii are 

 present, although a median longitudinal sulcus extending between the 



1 Derived from the Greek para, near; akte, sh ore; and ichthys, fish; referring to the inferred near-shore habitat 

 occupied by the fish. 



