Laeops rharbensis Schwarzhans, 1999

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 : 40

publication ID	https://doi.org/10.1186/s13358-023-00268-4
persistent identifier	https://treatment.plazi.org/id/03ED255D-3B17-FF9C-99BF-6A9CFAB250E6
treatment provided by	Felipe
scientific name	Laeops rharbensis Schwarzhans, 1999
status

Treatment

Figure 20l–o View Fig

1999 Laeops rharbensis —Schwarzhans: Fig. 444–447.

Material 7 specimens, Dar bel Hamri, Zanclean, photographed paratypes SMF P 9320 About SMF .

Discussion Laeops rharbensis resembles Arnoglossus kokeni in proportions and general appearance, but differs in being more compressed (OL:OH = 1.0–1.1 vs. 1.1– 1.2), in the more rounded and expanded ventral rim, and in the higher positioned anterior rostrum-like tip of the otolith. Te generic allocation to the genus Laeops , which today only lives in the Indo-Pacific, is poorly constrained by means of otolith morphological characters. If verified, it would represent the second taxon in the Zanclean of northwestern Morocco with clear Indo-Pacific affinities, the other being Brotula multibarbata (see above).