Cladocyclus

{{Automatic taxobox

| name = Cladocyclus

| image = Cladocyclus.JPG

| image_caption = Fossil of C. gardneri

| fossil_range = Albian-Cenomanian
~{{fossil range|112.6|94.3}}

| taxon = Cladocyclus

| authority = Agassiz, 1841

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = * C. gardneri {{small|Agassiz, 1841}}

C. geddesi {{small|Berrell, 2014}}

}}

Cladocyclus (derived from the Greek κλάδος/kládos ("branch") and κύκλος/kýklos ("circle")[http://www.summagallicana.it/Agassiz_nomenclator_zoologicus/Pisces.htm NOMENCLATOR ZOOLOGICUS – NOMENCLATORE ZOOLOGICO. Pisces]) is an extinct genus of marine ichthyodectiform ray-finned fish from the middle Cretaceous. It was a predator of about {{convert|1.20|m|ft}} in length.

Taxonomy

It contains the following species:

†C. gardneri Agassiz, 1841 - Albian of northeastern Brazil (Romualdo and Crato Formations of the Araripe Basin) (=C. ferus Santos, 1950){{Cite journal |last1=de Castro Leal |first1=Maria Eduarda |last2=Brito |first2=Paulo M |date=2004-04-01 |title=The ichthyodectiform Cladocyclus gardneri (Actinopterygii: Teleostei) from the Crato and Santana Formations, Lower Cretaceous of Araripe Basin, North-Eastern Brazil |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0753396904000126 |journal=Annales de Paléontologie |volume=90 |issue=2 |pages=103–113 |doi=10.1016/j.annpal.2004.01.001 |bibcode=2004AnPal..90..103D |issn=0753-3969|url-access=subscription }}
†C. geddesi Berell, 2014 - late Albian of Queensland, Australia (Winton Formation){{Cite journal |last=Berrell; Alvarado-Ortega; Yabumoto; Salisbury |first=Rodney W.; Jesús; Yoshitaka; Steven W. |date=7 June 2014 |title=The First Record of the Ichthyodectiform Fish Cladocyclus from Eastern Gondwana: A New Species from the Lower Cretaceous of Queensland, Australia |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |volume=59 |issue=4 |pages=903–902 |doi=10.4202/app.2012.0019 |s2cid=59019268 |doi-access=free}}

An indeterminate specimen, previously assigned to Chirocentrites, is known from the Albian-aged Pietraroja Plattenkalk of Italy.{{Cite journal |last1=Signore |first1=M. |last2=Pede |first2=C. |last3=Bucci |first3=E. |last4=C. |first4=Barbera |date=2006 |title=First report of the genus Cladocyclus in the Lower Cretaceous of Pietraroja (Southern Italy) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/233859991 |journal=Bollettino della Società Paleontologica Italiana |volume=45 |issue=1 |pages=141}} Indeterminate specimens, represented by complete remains, are also known from the Cenomanian of Morocco,{{Cite journal |last1=Martill |first1=David M. |last2=Ibrahim |first2=Nizar |last3=Brito |first3=Paulo M. |last4=Baider |first4=Lahssen |last5=Zhouri |first5=Samir |last6=Loveridge |first6=Robert |last7=Naish |first7=Darren |last8=Hing |first8=Richard |date=2011-08-01 |title=A new Plattenkalk Konservat Lagerstätte in the Upper Cretaceous of Gara Sbaa, south-eastern Morocco |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0195667111000164 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=433–446 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2011.01.005 |bibcode=2011CrRes..32..433M |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }} which are not to be confused with C. pankowskii, which was discovered in the Kem Kem Beds in 2007, but has since been reclassified to the genus Aidachar.{{cite journal |last1=Forey |first1=Peter L. |last2=Cavin |first2=Lionel |date=2007 |title=A new species of Cladocyclus (Teleostei: Ichthyodectiformes) from the Cenomanian of Morocco |url=http://palaeo-electronica.org/2007_3/133/133.pdf |journal=Palaeontologia Electronica}}{{Cite journal |last1=Mkhitaryan |first1=T.G. |last2=Averianov |first2=A.O. |date=2011-06-25 |title=New material and phylogenetic position of Aidachar paludalis Nesov, 1981 (Actinopterygii, Ichthyodectiformes) from the Late Cretaceous of Uzbekistan |journal=Proceedings of the Zoological Institute RAS |volume=315 |issue=2 |pages=181–192 |doi=10.31610/trudyzin/2011.315.2.181 |issn=0206-0477 |doi-access=free}}

The species C. lewesiensis Agassiz, 1887 from the Cenomanian of England and C. strehlensis Geinitz, 1868 from the Turonian of Germany, which were described based only on fossil scales, are considered nomen dubia and likely do not belong to this genus.{{Cite journal |last=Cockerell |first=T. D. A. |date=1917 |title=European Fossil Fish-Scales |url=https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/279587 |journal=The American Naturalist |volume=51 |issue=601 |pages=61–63 |doi=10.1086/279587 |bibcode=1917ANat...51...61C |issn=0003-0147}}{{Cite journal |last1=Ekrt |first1=Boris |last2=Košt'ák |first2=Martin |last3=Mazuch |first3=Martin |last4=Voigt |first4=Silke |last5=Wiese |first5=Frank |date=2008 |title=New records of teleosts from the Late Turonian (Late Cretaceous) of the Bohemian Cretaceous Basin (Czech Republic) |url=https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cretres.2008.01.013 |journal=Cretaceous Research |volume=29 |issue=4 |pages=659–673 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2008.01.013 |bibcode=2008CrRes..29..659E |issn=0195-6671|url-access=subscription }} The dubious species C. occidentalis Leidy, 1857 from the Coniacian-to-Campanian-aged Niobrara Formation of South Dakota, US is based on scales that likely belong to Ichthyodectes ctenodon.{{Cite journal |last=Schumacher |first=Bruce |date=1997 |title=Fossil Vertebrates of the Niobrara Formation in South Dakota, 1998 |url=https://www.academia.edu/5998091 |journal=Proceedings of the South Dakota Academy of Science |volume=76}}

Ecology

Although C. gardneri and other cladocyclids are generally thought of as marine fish, the Australian species C. geddesi was recovered from a freshwater formation, despite showing clear adaptations to the open ocean. This specimen may have been of an individual that swam upstream from the ocean.