Anaethalion is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine and freshwater ray-finned fish related to modern tarpons and ladyfish. It is known from the Late Jurassic to the Early Cretaceous of Europe and northeasterrn Asia (Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Russia), roughly encompassing the Tethys Ocean.[1][2]
It is the earliest known member of the Elopiformes and the Elopomorpha in general.[3] The earliest known species are marine, but later species are found in freshwater habitats.
A. zapporum Arratia, 2000 (Kimmeridgian of Germany)
An undescribed species is known from the Albian of Italy. The genus Aethalionopsis was previously considered synonymous with Anaethalion, but is now known to be a fossil relative of the milkfish. Some authorities place some of its species (A. valdensis and the undescribed Italian species) with Aethalionopsis instead.[1][4][5]
Arratia, GF, "Anaethalion and similar teleosts (Actinopterygii, Pisces) from the Late Jurassic (Tithonian) of southern Germany and their relationships", Palaeontographica Abteilung A Palaeozoologie-Stratigraphie, vol. 200, issue 1–3, pp. 1–44. ISSN 0375-0442.
Poyato-Ariza, Francisco José, "The elopiform fish Anaethalion angustus restored, with comments on individual variation", Mesozoic Fishes 2 – Systematics and Fossil Record, G. Arratia & H.-P. Schultze (eds.): pp. 361–36. ISBN3-931516-48-2.
