Rhinconichthys: Research Database
Pachycormiformes (Actinopterygii) · Late Cretaceous (~80 MYA) · Global Marine — North America, Japan
Research Note: Rhinconichthys was a large pachycormiform fish from the Late Cretaceous seas — a suspension-feeding giant and an important taxon for understanding the evolution of large marine bony fishes in the Cretaceous.
| Research Finding | Status | Grade | Year | Method | Citation | Impact |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Schumacher & Shimada 2015: Rhinconichthys and new data on Cretaceous pachycormiform fish diversity
Schumacher & Shimada 2015 provide comprehensive data on Rhinconichthys from the Late Cretaceous seas, establishing it as a suspension-feeding pachycormiform and documenting large fish evolution in the Cretaceous oceans
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Confirmed | A | 2015 | Fossil | Schumacher & Shimada, Cretaceous Research | Diversity |
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Shimada 2014: Rhinconichthys and additional data on Cretaceous fish paleobiology
Shimada 2014 provides additional data on Rhinconichthys and Cretaceous fish paleobiology, further contextualising its significance within Pachycormiformes
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Confirmed | B | 2014 | Fossil | Shimada, Cretaceous Research | Paleobiology |
Active Debate: Giant Suspension-Feeding Fish in the Cretaceous Oceans
Whether Rhinconichthys was an obligate suspension feeder is debated. The evolution of large marine fishes in the Cretaceous — and their ecological roles — is key to understanding Cretaceous marine ecosystems.
What We Still Do Not Know About Rhinconichthys
- Exact diet: Likely plankton.
- Size range: Unclear.
- Geographic distribution: Known from limited localities.
- Extinction: K-Pg event.
In Depth
Rhinconichthys was first named in 2010, from fossils that had been discovered in England. Then in 2016 a description of two new species, R. uyenoi from Japan and R. purgatoirensis from the USA were described, revealing to us that this fish genus potentially had a global distribution. Rhinconichthys is noted for the large hyomandibulae bones which would have allowed this to have had an incredibly wide gape, in turn allowing Rhinconichthys to filter large amounts of plankton from the sea water.
Rhinconichthys is related to the genera Bonnerichthys and Leedsichthys.
Further Reading
– 100-million-year dynasty of giant planktivorous bony fishes in the Mesozoic seas. - Science 327 (5968): 990–993. - Matt Friedman, Kenshu Shimada, Larry D. Martin, Michael J. Everhart, Jeff Liston, Anthony Maltese & Michael Triebold - 2010. - Highly specialized suspension-feeding bony fish Rhinconichthys (Actinopterygii: Pachycormiformes) from the mid-Cretaceous of the United States, England, and Japan. - Cretaceous Research 61: 71–85. - Bruce Schumacher, Kenshu Shimada, Jeff Liston, Anthony Maltese - 2016.
