Enchelurus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}}

{{Distinguish|Enchelyurus}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|95|70.6|Cenomanian to Campanian{{cite journal|last=Sepkoski |first=Jack |title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera |journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology |volume=364 |page=560 |year=2002 |url=http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |accessdate=2009-02-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723131237/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |archivedate=2011-07-23 }}}}

| taxon = Enchelurus

| authority = von der Marck 1863

| type_species = {{extinct}}Enchelurus villosus

| type_species_authority = von der Marck, 1863

| subdivision = * E. anglicus Woodward 1901

• E. syriacus Woodward 1901
• E. villosus von der Marck 1863

}}

Enchelurus (Greek for "eel tail") is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that lived during the Late Cretaceous.{{cite journal|last=Sepkoski |first=Jack |title=A compendium of fossil marine animal genera |journal=Bulletins of American Paleontology |volume=364 |page=560 |year=2002 |url=http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |accessdate=2009-02-27 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723131237/http://strata.ummp.lsa.umich.edu/jack/showgenera.php?taxon=611&rank=class |archivedate=2011-07-23 }} It contains three species, known from the Cenomanian to Campanian of Europe and the Middle East.{{Cite web |title=PBDB Taxon |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/checkTaxonInfo?taxon_no=35362&is_real_user=1 |access-date=2024-12-24 |website=paleobiodb.org}}{{Cite book |last=Geology |first=British Museum (Natural History) Department of |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Catalogue_of_the_Fossil_Fishes_in_the_Br/ZtEKAQAAIAAJ? |title=Catalogue of the Fossil Fishes in the British Museum (Natural History): Actinopterygian Teleostomi of the suborders Isospondyli (in part), Ostariophysi, Apodes, Percesoces, Hemibranchii, Acanthopterygii, and Anacanthini |last2=Woodward |first2=Arthur Smith |date=1901 |publisher=order of the Trustees |language=en}}

The following species are known:

• E. anglicus Woodward, 1901 - mid-late Cenomanian of England (English Chalk){{Cite journal |last=Friedman |first=Matt |last2=Beckett |first2=Hermione T. |last3=Close |first3=Roger A. |last4=Johanson |first4=Zerina |date=2016 |title=The English Chalk and London Clay: two remarkable British bony fish Lagerstätten |url=https://www.lyellcollection.org/doi/full/10.1144/sp430.18 |journal=Geological Society, London, Special Publications |volume=430 |issue=1 |pages=165–200 |doi=10.1144/SP430.18|url-access=subscription }}
• E. syriacus Woodward, 1901 - Santonian of Lebanon (Sahel Alma)
• E. villosus von der Marck, 1863 (type species) - Campanian of Germany (Baumberge Formation)

Its taxonomic affinity remains uncertain; it was initially classified as an early halosaur in the order Notacanthiformes, and continues to be treated as such by some authorities. However, other studies have found it to be an elopomorph related to the common ancestor of Anguilliformes and Notacanthiformes,{{Cite journal |last=Belouze |first=Anne |date=2002 |title=Compréhension morphologique et phylogénétique des taxons actuels et fossiles rapportés aux anguilliformes ("poissons", téléostéens) |url=https://www.persee.fr/doc/geoly_0750-6635_2002_mon_158_1 |journal=Travaux et Documents des Laboratoires de Géologie de Lyon |volume=158 |issue=1 |pages=3–401}}{{Cite journal |last=Belouze |first=Anne |last2=Gayet |first2=Mireille |last3=Atallah |first3=Claude |date=2003-07-01 |title=Les premiers Anguilliformes : II. Paraphylie du genre Urenchelys WOODWARD, 1900 et relations phylogénétiques |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0016699503000366 |journal=Geobios |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=351–378 |doi=10.1016/S0016-6995(03)00036-6 |issn=0016-6995|url-access=subscription }}{{Cite journal |last=Dornburg |first=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) |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790315001001 |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=89 |pages=205–218 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2015.04.004 |issn=1055-7903|doi-access=free }} or even an early anguilliform itself.{{Cite journal |last=Near |first=Thomas J. |last2=Thacker |first2=Christine E. |date=2024-04-18 |title=Phylogenetic Classification of Living and Fossil Ray-Finned Fishes (Actinopterygii) |url=https://bioone.org/journals/bulletin-of-the-peabody-museum-of-natural-history/volume-65/issue-1/014.065.0101/Phylogenetic-Classification-of-Living-and-Fossil-Ray-Finned-Fishes-Actinopterygii/10.3374/014.065.0101.full |journal=Bulletin of the Peabody Museum of Natural History |volume=65 |issue=1 |doi=10.3374/014.065.0101 |issn=0079-032X}}