Extinct genus of fishes
Berycopsis is an extinct genus of marine ray-finned fish from the Late Cretaceous period. Fossils are known from England, Germany, and Lebanon. A potential specimen is known from the Czech Republic.
It is generally placed among the beardfish in the family Polymixiidae. However, one 2009 study found it to be a more basal acanthomorph, and tentatively placed it as Beryciformes "incertae sedis". However, later studies have continued to place it in the Polymixiidae.
The following species are known:
The species ""B"." "lindstromi" from the Danian-aged Kobenhavn Limestone of Limhamns kalkbrott, Sweden, is based on a generically indeterminate partial skeleton, and thus its taxonomic affiliation is uncertain. The species "Platycormus gibbosus" may also belong to this genus, but the holotype has been lost and thus nothing about it is known. "B. elegans" and "B. germanus" may also be synonymous with each other, but not enough about the former's morphology to decide this.
"Berycopsis" was about long and one of the earliest known members of the Acanthopterygii, the group that includes the present day barracuda, swordfish, seahorses, and flatfish. Like its modern relatives, the first fin rays in the dorsal and anal fins were modified into defensive spines, and the pelvic fins were located close to the pectoral fins. "Berycopsis" was one of the earliest fish known to have these features, which are widespread today.
References.
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