7.4" Cretaceous Viper Fish (Prionolepis) - Fish In Stomach!

Cretaceous Viper Fish (Prionolepis) - Fish In Stomach! #173362

This is a detailed, 7.4" long, fossil viper fish (Prionolepis). It preserved in association with an additional, smaller Prionolepis, a Gaudryella fish, a shrimp (Carpopaneus sp.) and an unidentified fish. A truly fascinating feature of this specimen can be found in the large Prionolepis's stomach where a fish had been consumed prior to death. This specimen comes the Upper Cretaceous Lebanese lagerstätten near Hjoula.

There is a repaired crack the tail of the largest fish that also runs through the Gaudryella. The limestone has been backed with a plaster for stability. Comes with a display stand.

The discovery of amazingly preserved marine fossils near Hjoula, 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 one of the quarries at Hjoula, Lebanon

SPECIES

Prionolepis sp. (Viper Fishes), Carpopenaeus sp. (Shrimp) & Gaudryella sp.

AGE

Upper Cretaceous (~94 Million Years)