Parenypnias Schwarzhans & Klots & Ryabokon & Kovalchuk 2022, n. gen.
Creators: name: Schwarzhans, Werner
name: Klots, Oleksandr
name: Ryabokon, Tamara
name: Kovalchuk, Oleksandr
Publisher: name: Zenodo
Year: 2022
Subjects: Biodiversity
Taxonomy
Animalia
Chordata
Perciformes
Gobiidae
Parenypnias

description: Genus Parenypnias n. gen.
Type species: Parenypnias inauditus n. sp.
Etymology Derived from the gobiosomatine genus Enypnias Jordan & Evermann, 1898 because of some resemblance to otoliths of that genus, which, however, is regarded as a junior synonym of Gobiosoma Girard, 1858 according to Tornabene and van Tassell (2014).
Diagnosis An otolith of the family Gobiidae, supposedly belonging to the Gobiosomatini, with the following combination of diagnostic characters. Otolith size small, up to slightly over 1.5 mm in length. Ventral rim of otolith straight, horizontal; anterior rim near vertical or with pointed preventral projection; anterior and posterior rims with deep incisions at anterior and posterior terminations of sulcus. Dorsal rim with distinct middorsal angle and relatively short, mildly to distinctly outward bent postdorsal projection. Inner and outer faces about equally convex or inner face more convex. Sulcus narrow, moderately short, oval, without ostial lobe or subcaudal iugum, inclined at 15°–18°. Ventral furrow following outline of ventral rim of otolith.
Discussion Te Gobiosomatini are a group of gobiid fishes that are today only known from the seas around the Americas, where they form one of the most diverse and species rich groups of the family (Rüber et al., 2003). Teir otoliths appear inconspicuous at first glance but are characterized by certain traits not usually found in combination in Atlanto-Mediterranean goby groups. Tese traits are the relatively narrow sulcus with or without ostial lobe, the lack of a subcaudal iugum, the outward bent postdorsal projection, and the inner face being as strongly convex as the outer face or more so. In that respect, Parenypnias closely resembles otoliths of the type species of Enypnias, E. seminudus (Günther, 1861) (Fig. 5j) in the outline of the otolith, the pronounced postdorsal projection, and the narrow sulcus with a low ostial lobe. It differs in the rather strongly reduced and small, nearly oval sulcus (vs. sole-shaped or somewhat smoothened sole-shaped) and the ventral furrow following the ventral rim of the otolith (vs. being more regularly curved and clipping the postventral angles/projections). Te otoliths of Gobiosoma with the type species G. bosc (Lacépède, 1800) (Fig. 5k) are more similar in respect to the shape and size of the sulcus but differ significantly in the reduced postdorsal projection and the postventral projection being significantly more pronounced than the postdorsal one. In this respect, Parenypnias almost resembles a combination of the two morphotypes.
Te Gobiosomatini are considered to represent a group endemic to the tropical to subtropical shores of the Americas (Rüber et al., 2003). Teir outgroup relationship is still elusive and has been discussed in Rüber et. al. (2003). Due to the occurrence of Parenypnias away from the extant distribution range and some remaining morphological uncertainties, our allocation to the Gobiosomatini should be considered tentative. Interestingly, however, the extant Gobiosomatini of the genus Enypnias are mostly associated with reef environments, while those of the genus Gobiosoma occur in shallow coastal and estuarine environments.
Species Two species: P. inauditus n. sp., which is known from the late Badenian of the Czech Republic (as revised here) and Ukraine, and P. kiselevi in Ukraine.
description: Published as part of Schwarzhans, Werner, Klots, Oleksandr, Ryabokon, Tamara & Kovalchuk, Oleksandr, 2022, A rare window into a back-reef fish community from the middle Miocene (late Badenian) Medobory Hills barrier reef in western Ukraine, reconstructed mostly by means of otoliths, pp. 1-35 in Swiss Journal of Palaeontology (18) (18) 141 (1) on pages 11-13, DOI: 10.1186/s13358-022-00261-3, http://zenodo.org/record/11999827