Parenypnias kiselevi Schwarzhans & Klots & Ryabokon & Kovalchuk 2022, n. sp.

Parenypnias kiselevi n. sp.

Figure 5h, i

Holotype NMNHU-P PI 2574, Mlyntsi, western Ukraine, late Badenian, Fig. 5h.

Etymology Named after Iosif Kiselev, enthusiastic paleoichthyologist amateur who collected a number of fish fossils of different ages in Ukraine.

Diagnosis OL:OH = 1.05. Preventral projection blunt, short; postdorsal projection moderately long, blunt, very strongly bent outward. Dorsal rim ascending to sharp postdorsal angle. Sulcus narrow, short (OL:SuL = 2.0), inclined at 15°. Ostial lobe absent; no subcaudal iugum. Inner face more strongly bent than outer face.

Description Small, thick otolith of 1.05 mm in length (holotype). OH:OT = 2.4. Anterior rim vertical, with distinct concavity at about level of ostial tip and distinct preventral angle and relatively low positioned predorsal angle of about equal strength. Ventral rim nearly straight. Dorsal rim ascending straight to sharp postdorsal angle positioned above cauda, followed by slightly concave postdorsal rim toward strongly outward bent postdorsal projection. Posterior rim with distinct and deep incision below postdorsal projection and orthogonal postventral angle. Ventral rim smooth, dorsal rim anteriorly slightly crenulated. Rims very thick and massive.

Inner face markedly convex, with very narrow, deepened, centrally positioned sulcus at 15°. OL:SuL= 2.0; SuL:SuH = 2.5. Sulcus without discernable ostial lobe, oval-shaped, with rounded tips, inclined at 15°. No subcaudal iugum. Ventral furrow broad, distinct, reaching from anterior to posterior tips of sulcus, curvature more or less following ventral rim of otolith. Dorsal field with small, indistinct dorsal depression ventrally marked by feeble crista superior toward sulcus and dorsally closed to dorsal rim of otolith. Outer face nearly flat, relatively smooth.

Discussion Tis small otolith is easily recognized by a number of unique characters, not the least of which are the very thick rims, strongly outward bent postdorsal projection, and small, almost oval sulcus. Te morphological expression is that of a mature fish, and we, therefore, assume that the otolith stems from a small species. For distinction from the second Parenypnias species, see above.