Opsodentex angolensis (Poll & Maul, 1953)

Schwarzhans, Werner, 2023, Geology and stratigraphy of the Neogene section along the Oued Beth between Dar bel Hamri and El Kansera (Rharb Basin, northwestern Morocco) and its otolith-based fish fauna: a faunal inventory for the Early, Swiss Journal of Palaeontology (4) 142 (1), pp. 1-85 : 59

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-023-00268-4
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03ED255D-3B0A-FF81-9A05-6B3BFA705666
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Opsodentex angolensis (Poll & Maul, 1953)
status

Treatment

Figure 27g View Fig

Material 14 specimens, Dar bel Hamri, Zanclean (figured specimen SMF PO 101.268 ) .

Discussion Te distinction of the four extant species in Opsodentex ( O. angolensis , O. congoensis , O. macrophthalmus , O. maroccanus ) is difficult and may not be possible in many cases. Veen and Hoedemakers (2005) commented that these species could not be distinguished and combined their otoliths in a “group de Dentex maroccanus .” Van Hinsbergh and Hoedemakers (2022), however, distinguish otoliths of O. macrophthalmus and O. maroccanus in the Pliocene of Estepona near Málaga without giving a rationale. It appears that they concluded that O. macrophthalmus has more stretched otoliths than O. maroccanus , a view that I follow. Opsodentex angolensis is similar to the otoliths of O. macrophthalmus but differs in a more strongly bent caudal tip (up to 60°), although this is not evident in all cases studied by me or figured in the literature (see Veen & Hoedemakers, 2005, and Lombarte et al., 2006). Today, O. angolensis is distributed from Mauritania to Angola ( Froese & Pauly, 2022).