Paraclupea seilacheri sp. nov., a double armored herring (Clupeomorpha, Ellimmichthyiformes) from the Albian limestones of Tlayúa quarry, Puebla, Mexico

Abstract

Paraclupea seilacheri sp. nov. is described in this paper. This ellimmichthyiform fish from the Albian deposits of the Tlayúa quarry, near Tepexi de Rodríguez, Puebla, central Mexico, shows the diagnostic characters of the superorder Clupeomorpha (the otophysic connection, commissure of the supratemporal sensory canal passing through parietals, and the abdominal scute series), order Ellimmichthyiformes (parietals in contact to each other along the midline of the skull; a beryciform foramen in the anterior ceratohyal; three epurals in the caudal skeleton; and a series of predorsal scutes), and family Paraclupeidae (predorsal scutes with increasing sizes  in anterioposterior order  and  postpelvic abdominal scutes with  a strong ventral spine). Additionally, the characters of this new Mexican fish are distinctive and support the creation of a new species of the genus Paraclupea, these include a diamond shaped body moderately high; 18 predorsal scutes strongly ornamented with radiating ridges; most posterior predorsal scutes are subrectangular, wider than long; the abdominal scutes are spatula-like; the dorsal process of posttemporal bone is hypertrophied; and the second uroneural is short and distally reaches the end of the first uroneural. The present finding introduces the second species of the genus Paraclupea; a significative increase in the geographical distribution of this genus in the Northern Hemisphere, from eastern China to the southern North America; and the third North American Cretaceous paraclupeid after Tycheroichthys dunveganensis and Scutatoclupea applegatei.