Afroscion trewavasae Schwarzhans, 1993

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 : 61

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-023-00268-4
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03ED255D-3B0C-FF87-9A05-6D1BFBB35786
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Afroscion trewavasae Schwarzhans, 1993
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Treatment

Figure 28a–d View Fig

1993 Afroscion trewavasae —Schwarzhans: Fig. 246–250.

1997 Afroscion trewavasae Schwarzhans, 1993 —Nolf & Marques da Silva: pl. 3, Figs. 1–6 View Fig View Fig View Fig View Fig View Fig View Fig .

Material 1564 specimens, Dar bel Hamri, Zanclean, figured specimens are photographs of holotype, SMF P 8226 About SMF

( Fig. 28b View Fig ) and paratypes, SMF P 8227 About SMF ( Fig. 28a, c–d View Fig ) .

Discussion Afroscion trewavasae is the most common species at Dar bel Hamri. I know of no other fossil otolith location where a sciaenid species represents the most common species. Furthermore, the majority of specimens are large, in the size category of 8 to 14 mm in length, while specimens 5 mm in length ( Fig. 28d View Fig ) or smaller are rare. At Vale de Freixo ( Portugal, Piacenzian) Nolf and Marques da Silva (1997) recorded A. trewavasae as one of the most common species in their assemblage, trailing only a goby ( Deltentosteus sp. ) and an ophidiid ( Ophidion rochei ), but they described a more continuous ontogenetic sequence starting with specimens slightly over 1 mm in length. Afroscion contains a single extant species, A. thorpei (Smith, 1977) , distributed in southeastern Africa from Mozambique to Algoa Bay, where juveniles are found on sand and mud and adults predominantly on reefs (Sasaki in Heemstra et al. 2022). Even though obviously not reef-associated, it appears likely that the fossil northeastern Atlantic A. trewavasae lived in different environments during its ontogeny. Afroscion is often placed as a junior synonym of Argyrosomus de La Pylaie, 1835 , since Sasaki and Kailola (1988), but in the light of its distinct lineage and disjunctive distribution pattern, I consider it valid.