A new late neogene genus of roakers (Perciformes, Sciaenidae) from the Eastern Black Sea Region

Abstract

The roaker species (Sciaenidae) Sciaena impropria Gabelaia, 1976 from the Lower Pliocene (?) of Abkhazia is assigned to a new genus, Carnevalella gen. nov. This genus essentially differs from other sciaenid fishes in the greater number of supraneurals and vertebrae, the posterior shift of the dorsal fin origin, and the fusion of the fourth hypural with the terminal centrum. An incomplete roaker skeleton found in the Upper Maeotian (Upper Miocene) of the Taman Peninsula (Krasnodar Region) is assigned to the same genus. The Maeotian roaker is described as a new species, C. (?) tmutarakanica sp. nov. Morphological peculiarity of the genus Carnevalella gen. nov. justifies its allocation to a new subfamily, Carnevalellinae subfam. nov. © 2013 Pleiades Publishing, Ltd.