Superb Mallotus Fossil Fish in Concretion

Description: This is a specimen with excellent preservation. The best by far of the few I have come across my desk. It reveals the body outline and displays both the dorsal and anal fins. The skull preservation is exquisite. It is typical of the specimens from this location, which is now off limits to collecting, making examples like this quite difficult to acquire.

Capelin Mallotus villosus still exists today, and is found in large schools in seas throughout the Northern Hemsiphere. They feed on plankton and are food sources for larger fish such as cod and halibut. They collect near Iceland in the fall in huge numbers. The name Capelin is Old French for chaplain, referring to the cape-like fringes of elongated scales that spawning males develop. Villosus is Latin for hairy, also referring to these same scales.