FOSSIL AND RECENT 



hm 



33 



pmx 



- sop 



5mm 



art 



Fig. 14. Davichthys gardneri sp. nov. Cranium and pectoral girdle in left 

 lateral view. Based on the holotype. 



and moderately deep anteriorly. Preopercular canal distant from the anterior 

 margin of the bone. Dorsal fin situated mid- way between the occiput and the caudal 

 peduncle and composed of 23 rays. Anal situated mid-way between the pelvic fin 

 and the caudal peduncle, with 14 rays. Fringing fulcra absent. 



Holotype. Nearly complete fish, B.M.N.H. 49520, from the Middle Cenomanian 

 of Hakel, Lebanon. 



Material. No material other than the holotype is known. 



Remarks. This species is founded on a single specimen previously identified as 

 Halec. The essential characters of the genus Davichthys are to be found here, the 

 differences from the type-species being those meristic counts and morphometric 

 ratios which may be inferred from the specific diagnoses. 



Davichthys gardneri is larger than the type-species and has a relatively deeper 

 head. The dermethmoid is produced laterally as a small prong resembling the larger 

 process in Anaethalion. 



The hyomandibular of D. gardneri shows a very well-developed opercular process 

 and the shaft is narrow, differing in both features from D. dubius. The upper jaw 

 differs from that in the type-species in showing a prominent palatine process on the 

 maxilla, very shallow supramaxillae and a premaxilla which is substantially deeper. 



The preoperculum appears slightly more primitive than in the type-species, 

 having no lower limb and the sensory canal distant from the anterior margin. The 



