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Serenichthys

Coelacanthimorpha

Taxonomy

Species
S. kowiensis (type species)

Synonymy list
YearName and author
2015Serenichthys Gess and Coates pp. 363 - 367

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RankNameAuthor
kingdomAnimalia()
Bilateria
EubilateriaAx 1987
Deuterostomia
phylumChordataHaeckel 1874
subphylumVertebrata
RankNameAuthor
superclassGnathostomata
Osteichthyes()
subclassSarcopterygii()
classCoelacanthimorpha
genusSerenichthys

If no rank is listed, the taxon is considered an unranked clade in modern classifications. Ranks may be repeated or presented in the wrong order because authors working on different parts of the classification may disagree about how to rank taxa.

G. †Serenichthys Gess and Coates 2015
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Serenichthys kowiensis Gess and Coates 2015
Diagnosis
ReferenceDiagnosis
R. W. Gess and M. I. Coates 2015Serenichthys is described from small, probably juvenile, individuals with large heads and eyes. With all other coelacanths it shares a single bone (lachrymojugal) beneath the eye, a tandem jaw articulation, a reduced dentary, two infradentaries of which the angular is largest and is dorsally expanded, a separate large anterior coronoid, absence of a maxilla (exceptionally present in Styloichthys), absence of submandibulars, a shoulder girdle free from the skull, presence of an extracleithrum, a caudal fin with a single series of radials distal to neural and haemal spines, and linear remodelling of oral denticles.

In common with Diplocercides, Serenichthys has a symmetrical diphycercal tail. It uniquely shares with Diplocercides kayseri and D. jaekeli an elbow-like, ornamented, lachrymojugal with a posteroventral expansion, not found in any other coelacanths.

Serenichthys differs from Diplocercides in possession of long anterior parietals approaching the size of the posterior parietals, in having a larger, more crescent-shaped postorbital in which the infraorbital canal runs along the anterior margin, by the possession of a far smaller squamosal which does not approach the skull roof and by the probable absence of a lobe on the second dorsal fin.

Serenichthys is distinguished from coelacanths more plesiomorphic than Diplocercides, such as Miguashaia and Gavinia, by possession of two pairs of parietals, the presence of a pre-orbital, a diphycercal tail and unbranched fin rays. It is distinguished from more crownward coelacanths, other than Holopterygius, by the presence of broad neural and haemal spines and radials in the caudal skeleton. Serenichthys is easily distinguished from Holopterygius by its more conventional overall form and lack of keel scales.