3.8" Cretaceous Eel (Enchelion) and Three Shrimp - Hakel, Lebanon

Cretaceous Eel (Enchelion) and Three Shrimp - Hakel, Lebanon #200693

This is a beautifully detailed, 3.8" long specimen from the famous, marine deposits near Hakel, Lebanon. Enchelion is one of the earliest known eels which lived during the Upper Cretaceous and is considered one of the scarcer fishes found at this location. There is no repair or restoration. Three Carpopenaeus shrimp fossils are imbedded in the limestone as well.

It comes with an acrylic display stand.

The discovery of amazingly preserved marine fossils near Hakel, Lebanon dates back many centuries. In fact, they were first mentioned in writing by Herodotus, over 450 years before the birth of Christ. The first scientific work on these localities began in the 1800s: these deposits have been meticulously quarried by several Lebanese families for over a century. We purchase our specimens directly from one of these families.

These deposits represent a warm, shallow sea of the Middle Cretaceous, and have yielded over 70 types of fish and numerous other genera found nowhere else in the world. The preservation on many of these specimens is truly amazing: many examples of soft bodied preservation have been found.

A photo of the quarry at Hakel, Lebanon