Enoplophthalmus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = {{fossilrange|33.9|20.4|Early Oligocene to Early Miocene}}

| taxon = Enoplophthalmus

| authority = Sauvage, 1880

| type_species = {{extinct}}Enoplophthalmus schlumbergeri

| type_species_authority = Sauvage, 1880

| subdivision_ranks = Species

| subdivision = * {{extinct}}E. alsaticus Gaudant, 1984

• {{extinct}}E. rhenanus (Weiler, 1963)
• {{extinct}}E. robustus (Weiler, 1963)
• {{extinct}}E. schlumbergeri Sauvage, 1880

}}

Enoplophthalmus is an extinct genus of prehistoric freshwater smelt that inhabited Europe during the Oligocene and early Miocene epoches, from the Rupelian to the Aquitanian.{{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 }}{{Cite web |title=PBDB |url=https://paleobiodb.org/classic/displaySearchStrataResults?group_formation_member=Hydrobienkalk |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=paleobiodb.org}} It appears to be closely related to the modern capelin (Mallotus villosus).{{Cite journal |last=Gaudant |first=Jean |date=2013 |title=Présence d'un Osmeridae: Enoplophthalmus schlumbergeri Sauvage, 1880 dans l'Oligocène inférieur des environs de Céreste (Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, France) |url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.5252/g2013n2a4 |journal=Geodiversitas |language=en |volume=35 |issue=2 |pages=345–357 |doi=10.5252/g2013n2a4 |issn=1280-9659}} Until the description of the Paleocene-aged Speirsaenigma from Canada, it was the oldest known fossil smelt genus.{{Cite journal |last=Wilson |first=Mark V. H. |last2=Williams |first2=Robert R. G. |date=1991-12-31 |title=New Paleocene genus and species of smelt (Teleostei: Osmeridae) from freshwater deposits of the Paskapoo Formation, Alberta, Canada, and comments on osmerid phylogeny |url=https://doi.org/10.1080/02724634.1991.10011414 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=434–451 |doi=10.1080/02724634.1991.10011414 |issn=0272-4634}}

The following species are known:{{Cite journal |last=Reichenbacher |first=Bettina |last2=Vlad |first2=Codrea A. |date=January 1999 |title=Fresh- to brackish water fish faunas from continental Early Oligocene deposits in the Transylvanian Basin (Romania) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/288396705_Fresh-_to_brackish_water_fish_faunas_from_continental_Early_Oligocene_deposits_in_the_Transylvanian_Basin_Romania |journal=Bulletin de l'Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belqique, Sciences de la Terre |issue=69 |pages=197-207}}

• †E. alsaticus Gaudant, 1984 - Early Oligocene of France (Pechelbronn Formation),{{Cite journal |last=Martini |first=Erlend |last2=Reichenbacher |first2=Bettina |date=2007 |title=Nannoplankton und Fisch-Otolithen in den Mittleren Pechelbronn-Schichten (Unter-Oligozän, Oberrheingraben/Mainzer Becken) |url=http://www.paleoliste.de/reichenbacher/Martini_Reichenb2007.pdf |journal=Geol. Abh. Hessen |issue=116 |pages=235–273}} potentially late Oligocene of Armenia{{Cite web |title=Davit Vasilyan {{!}} University of Tübingen |url=https://uni-tuebingen.de/en/fakultaeten/mathematisch-naturwissenschaftliche-fakultaet/fachbereiche/geowissenschaften/arbeitsgruppen/geo-und-umweltnaturwissenschaften/geo-und-umweltnaturwissenschaften/terrestrial-palaeoclimatology/workgroup/associated-scientists/davit-vasilyan/ |access-date=2024-12-29 |website=uni-tuebingen.de |language=en}}
• †E. rhenanus (Weiler, 1963) - Early Miocene (Aquitanian) of Germany (Hydrobienkalk Formation){{Cite journal |last=Gaudant |first=Jean |last2=Reichenbacher |first2=Bettina |date=1998-11-30 |title=Skelette der Gattung Enoplophthalmus Sauvage 1880 (Teleostei, Osmeridae) mit Otolithen in situ aus dem Unter-Miozän des Mainzer Beckens |url=https://www.schweizerbart.de//papers/njgpa/detail/210/88436/Skelette_der_Gattung_Enoplophthalmus_Sauvage_1880_?af=crossref |journal=Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen |language=de |pages=237–266 |doi=10.1127/njgpa/210/1998/237}}
• †E. robustus (Weiler, 1963) - Early Miocene (Aquitanian) of Germany (Hydrobienkalk Formation)
• †E. schlumbergeri Sauvage, 1880 (type species) - Early Oligocene of France (Calcaires de Campagne-Calavon){{Cite journal |last=Coster |first=Pauline |last2=Legal |first2=Stephane |date=2021-11-08 |title=An Early Oligocene Fossil Lagerstätten from the Lacustrine Deposits of the Luberon UNESCO Global Geopark |url=https://oiccpress.com/gcr/article/view/2800 |journal=Geoconservation Research |language=en |volume=4 |issue=2 |doi=10.30486/gcr.2021.1915524.1068 |issn=2588-7343}}

Indeterminate otoliths of this genus are known from Romania.

Alongside Dapalis, Enoplopthalmus appears to have been one of the dominant freshwater fishes that inhabited Europe during the late Paleogene and early Neogene. Uniquely, Enoplopthalmus is most closely related to capelin, a fish of northern temperate and Arctic affinities, while Dapalis was related to the glassfishes, which are a mainly tropical group today. This indicates that there was significantly less provincialism in fish distribution during the mid-Cenozoic, allowing for these now widely separated groups to coexist.