Belantsea
Name: Belantsea
(Named after the legendary ancestor of the Crow Nation).
Phonetic: Be-lant-se-ah.
Named By: Lesueur - 1818.
Synonyms: Ctenopetalus occidentalis,
Ctenoptychius occidentalis.
Classification: Chordata, Chondrichthyes.
Species: B. occidentalis (type),
B. montana.
Diet: Carnivore.
Size: Up to 70 centimetres long.
Known locations: USA, including Kansas -
Zeandale Limestone Formation, Montana - Heath Formation, and
Nebraska.
Time period: Baskirian to Gzhelian of the
Carboniferous.
Fossil representation: Almost complete individuals.
Belantsea would essentially have been the Carboniferous equivalent of a parrotfish. The body was bulky with strong muscular fins, and an underdeveloped tail which all indicate a preference for manoeuvrability over speed. The teeth are triangular and tightly packed to form a dental arrangement similar to a beak which would have easily broken hard exteriors of invertebrates and bryozoans. Altogether, these features suggest that Belantsea was a reef fish that manoeuvred over prey that could not escape by speed, while also possibly hiding amongst rocks to protect itself from other larger predatory fish, including early sharks.
Further reading
- New petalodonts (Chondrichthyes) from the Upper Mississippian
Bear Gulch Limestone (Namurian E2b) of Montana.- Journal of
Vertebrate Paleontology 9(3):350-368 - Richard Lund -
1989.
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