Bullichthys

{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}}

{{Italic title}}

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| taxon = Bullichthys santanensis

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| fossil_range = Albian
~{{Fossil range|112}}

| authority = Mayrinck, Brito & Otero, 2010

| parent_authority = Mayrinck, Brito & Otero, 2010

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Bullichthys is an extinct genus of marine albuliform fish which existed in the Romualdo Formation, Brazil during the Early Cretaceous (Albian) period. The type species is B. santanensis. The genus name references its inflated otic bulla.{{Cite journal |last1=Mayrinck |first1=Diogo |last2=Brito |first2=Paulo M. |last3=Otero |first3=Olga |date=2010-04-01 |title=A new albuliform (Teleostei: Elopomorpha) from the Lower Cretaceous Santana Formation, Araripe Basin, northeastern Brazil |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667109001347 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=227–236 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2009.11.002 |bibcode=2010CrRes..31..227M |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }}

It is thought to be one of the most basal members of the order Albuliformes, whose only extant relatives are the bonefish and gissus.{{Cite journal |last1=de Figueiredo |first1=F. J. |last2=Gallo |first2=V. |last3=Leal |first3=M. E. C. |date=2012-10-01 |title=Phylogenetic relationships of the elopomorph fish †Paraelops cearensis Silva Santos revisited: Evidence from new specimens |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667112000511 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=37 |pages=148–154 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2012.03.012 |bibcode=2012CrRes..37..148D |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }} At least one study has instead found it to possibly represent a stem-elopiform or even a stem-elopomorph, although most studies continue to recover it as an albuliform.{{Cite journal |last1=Dornburg |first1=Alex |last2=Friedman |first2=Matt |last3=Near |first3=Thomas J. |date=2015-08-01 |title=Phylogenetic analysis of molecular and morphological data highlights uncertainty in the relationships of fossil and living species of Elopomorpha (Actinopterygii: Teleostei) |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=89 |pages=205–218 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2015.04.004 |issn=1055-7903|doi-access=free |pmid=25899306 |bibcode=2015MolPE..89..205D }}{{Cite journal |last1=L-Recinos |first1=Marleni |last2=Cantalice |first2=Kleyton M. |last3=Caballero-Viñas |first3=Carmen |last4=Alvarado-Ortega |first4=Jesús |date=2023 |title=A new Mesozoic teleost of the subfamily Albulinae (Albuliformes: Albulidae) highlights the proto-Gulf of Mexico in the early diversification of extant bonefishes |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2023.2223797 |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |language=en |volume=21 |issue=1 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2023.2223797 |bibcode=2023JSPal..2123797L |issn=1477-2019|url-access=subscription }}