Rossi Valentina, Unitt Richard, McNamara Maria, Zorzin Roberto, Carnevale Giorgio
School of Biological, Earth & Environmental Sciences University College Cork Cork T23 TK30 Ireland.
Museo di Scienze Naturali dell'Alto Adige Bolzano 39100 Italy.
Palaeontology. 2022 May-Jun;65(3):e12600. doi: 10.1111/pala.12600. Epub 2022 May 24.
Colour patterning in extant animals can be used as a reliable indicator of their biology and, in extant fish, can inform on feeding strategy. Fossil fish with preserved colour patterns may thus illuminate the evolution of fish behaviour and community structure, but are understudied. Here we report preserved melanin-based integumentary colour patterning and internal anatomy of the fossil moonfish (Menidae) from the Bolca Lagerstätte (Eocene (Ypresian), north-east Italy). The melanosome-based longitudinal stripes of . differ from the dorsal rows of black spots in its extant relative . , suggesting that the ecology of moonfish has changed during the Cenozoic. Extant moonfish are coastal schooling fish that feed on benthic invertebrates, but the longitudinal stripes and stomach contents with fish remains in . suggest unstructured open marine ecologies and a piscivorous diet. The localized distribution of extant moonfish species in the Indo-Pacific Ocean may reflect, at least in part, tectonically-driven reorganization of global oceanographic patterns during the Cenozoic. It is likely that shifts in habitat and colour patterning genes promoted colour pattern evolution in the menid lineage.
现存动物的颜色图案可作为其生物学特征的可靠指标，对于现存鱼类而言，还能反映其摄食策略。因此，具有保存下来的颜色图案的化石鱼类可能会揭示鱼类行为和群落结构的演化，但这方面的研究较少。在此，我们报告了来自意大利东北部博尔卡化石库（始新世（伊普雷斯阶））的化石月鱼（Menidae）保存下来的基于黑色素的体表颜色图案和内部解剖结构。该化石月鱼基于黑素体的纵向条纹不同于其现存近亲的背部黑点排，这表明月鱼的生态在新生代发生了变化。现存月鱼是沿海群居鱼类，以底栖无脊椎动物为食，但该化石月鱼的纵向条纹和含有鱼类残骸的胃内容物表明其具有非结构化的开阔海洋生态和食鱼性饮食。现存月鱼物种在印度洋 - 太平洋的局部分布可能至少部分反映了新生代期间由构造驱动的全球海洋格局重组。栖息地和颜色图案基因的变化很可能推动了月鱼谱系的颜色图案演化。
