Two Species of Palaeoniscid Paleozoic Fish Fossils

Description: Presented are two Palaeoniscid fish. The Oxypteriscus minimus is the smaller fish in the upper right hand corner of the plate. With the species name being minimus, it is obvious these were small sized fish. I was not able to get an authoritative identification of the second fish. It appears to me to be a Ganolepis gracilis. However, my opinion does not deserve a lot of merit. To the untrained eye, the genera from this location are quite difficult to identify. The detail is very good, showing the scales, head and tail features. Now here is a rare treat from a distant and obscure locality. The paleoniscoids were the first ray-finned fish, a feature readily seen here. Like all Paleozoic fishes, they are difficult to obtain. Some 40 or more families appeared during the Carboniferous and Permian Periods.