Ctenognathichthys

Ctenognathichthys is an extinct genus of prehistoric marine ray-finned fish that lived during the Middle Triassic epoch of Europe, in the former Tethys Ocean.

Taxonomy and occurrence

It contains a single species, C. bellottii from the Anisian–Ladinian-aged Besano Formation of Monte San Giorgio area, the early Ladinian Prosanto Formation of canton Graubünden, Switzerland, and possibly the late Ladinian Alcover Unit of Spain. Indeterminate remains are known from the middle Anisian of the Strelovec Formation of Slovenia. A second species from the Prosanto Formation was previously placed in this genus, but a 2009 study placed it in the new genus Luopingichthys alongside a species from China.

Ctenognathichthys was first classified as a member of the family Perleididae and order Perleidiformes, a group that is now considered paraphyletic. More recently, it has been reclassified into the family Louwoichthyidae.

It was a small fish measuring in total length. It had long prehensile teeth in its upper and lower jaws.