Caturus (genus)


Caturus is an extinct genus of predatory marine fishes in the family Caturidae in the order Amiiformes, related to modern bowfin. It has been suggested that the genus is non-monophyletic with respect to other caturid genera.
Fossils of this genus range from 200 to 140 mya.

Taxonomy

Caturus has a confused taxonomic history. The genus was originally described by Louis Agassiz for two fossil fish that had been previously described in the genus Uraeus, which was found to already be preoccupied by a genus of cobra of the same name. However, neither of these species were properly described with an associated illustration or proper description, and they remain nomen dubia; the specimen of U. pachyurus is lost, and the specimen of Caturus gracilis is too poorly-preserved to assign a specific taxon. Later, the species C. furcatus, initially described by Agassiz within Pachycormus, was designated as the type species of the genus by Woodward, but this was incorrect as the type species of a genus must be one of the species originally described for it. These inconsistencies make both Caturus and Pachycormus taxonomically unstable genera, necessitating a petition to the Bulletin of Zoological Nomenclature to retain C. furcatus as the type species of Caturus.

Species

The following species are known:
  • †C. agassizi - Early Jurassic of England
  • †C. chirotes - Early Jurassic of England
  • †C. dartoni Eastman, 1899 - Middle Jurassic of North Dakota
  • †C. deani Gregory, 1923 - Oxfordian of Cuba
  • †C. enkopicaudalis Ebert & López-Arbarello, 2025 - Late Jurassic of Germany
  • †C. ferox Winkler, 1862- Late Jurassic of Germany
  • †C. furcatus - Late Jurassic of Germany
  • †C. heterurus - Early Jurassic of England
  • †C. latipennis - Early Jurassic of England
  • †C. latus Münster, 1834 - Late Jurassic of Germany
  • †C. macrurus Agassiz, 1833 - Late Jurassic of Germany
  • †C. porteri Rayner, 1948 - Middle Jurassic of England
  • †C. purbeckensis - Early Cretaceous of England
  • †C. smithwoodwardi White, 1925 - Early Jurassic of Germany
  • †C. tarraconensis Sauvage, 1903 - Early Cretaceous of Spain
  • †C. tenuidens Woodward, 1895 - Early Cretaceous of England
A number of species are no longer recognized. The species C. angustus Agassiz, 1844, C. branchiostegus Agassiz, 1834, C. brevicostatus Münster, 1842, C. contractus Wagner, 1863, C. driani Thiollière, 1851, C. elongatus Agassiz, 1834, C. gracilis Wagner, 1863, C. maximus Agassiz, 1834, C. microchirus Agassiz, 1834 and C. pleiodus Agassiz, 1844 are considered nomina dubia, while C. fusiformis Wagner, 1863 is considered a nomen nudum. The species C. stenospondylus Sauvage, 1875, C. stenoura Sauvage, 1875, and C. chaperi Sauvage, 1883 are all considered synonyms of Pachycormus macropterus, while C. cotteaui Sauvage, 1875 is considered a synonym of Euthynotus intermedius. The species C. retrodorsalis Sauvage, 1891 has been reclassified in Pholidophorus. Other species such as C. giganteus have been reclassified into other genera within the family Caturidae, such as Strobilodus. The species C. brevis Winkler, 1862, C. latidens Woodward, 1918, and C. velifer Thiollière, 1851, are no longer classified in Caturus or even Caturidae, and are yet to be reclassified.The species C. insignis from the Triassic of Austria, formerly placed in Caturus, is now placed in the genus Furo. Another potential record from Argentina is now placed as an indeterminate caturoid, possibly in the genus Catutoichthys.

Distribution

When restricted to only definitive species, Caturus is present in the Jurassic of the United Kingdom, Germany, the United States, and Cuba, ranging into the earliest Cretaceous of the United Kingdom and Spain. Indeterminate remains are also known within this range from the Jurassic of France and Portugal.