At the crossroads: early Miocene marine fishes of the proto-Mediterranean Sea

Abstract

Connectivity and climate control fish distribution today as well as in the geological past. We present here the Aquitanian (early Miocene) marine fish of the Mesohellenic Basin, a restricted basin at the border between the proto-Mediterranean and Paratethyan seas. Based on fish otoliths, we were able to identify 19 species from 17 genera, including two new species: Ariosoma mesohellenica and Gnathophis elongatus. This fish assemblage, in conjunction with the accompanying molluscan assemblage, indicates a variable shelf paleoenvironment with easy access to the open ocean. Although available data on the Indo-Pacific fishes of the early Miocene are very limited, the fish fauna of the Mesohellenic Basin has many elements in common with the North Sea, the NE Atlantic, and the Paratethys.