Atherinidae

The Old World silversides are a family, Atherinidae, of fish in the order Atheriniformes. Atherinidae are abundant and considered bony fish (teleost) that are widespread globally, living in rivers, estuaries, and coastal waters. They occur worldwide in tropical and temperate waters. About two-thirds of the species are marine, and the remainder live in fresh water. The 74 species are in 13 genera. The genus Craterocephalus is the most diverse with 25 species. Four genera are monotypic.

Atherinidae

Etrusko25 · Public Domain · via Wikipedia/Commons. May be a photograph of a specimen, or an artist’s reconstruction — an interpretation of a skeleton, since colour and soft tissue are almost never preserved.

On record

Recorded, not inferred
Sits inside
AtherinoideiPBDB
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Osteichthyes

Time the record covers

At least 47 million years on record.

The record covers at least 48.07 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 11.7 ka.

Paleocene — about 0 of 55 occurrencesEocene — about 10 of 55 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 3 of 55 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 32 of 55 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 4 of 55 occurrencesPleistocene — about 6 of 55 occurrences57–55 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences55–53 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences53–51 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences51–50 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences50–48 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences48–46 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences46–44 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences44–42 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 2 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 2 occurrences38–36 Mya — about 1 occurrence36–34 Mya — about 1 occurrence34–32 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 1 occurrence25–23 Mya — about 1 occurrence23–21 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 2 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 3 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 3 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 4 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 5 occurrences11–9.5 Mya — about 2 occurrences9.5–7.6 Mya — about 2 occurrences7.6–5.7 Mya — about 8 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 3 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 5 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 4 occurrences48.07 Mya129 ka57 Mya0 Mya

55 occurrences of Atherinidae on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group. Bar height is expected occurrences, not a count: each fossil is spread across the span it is dated to, so a tall narrow bar means tight dating and a low wide one means loose.

When

55 occurrences

These are dates about fossils, not the animal: the record can only begin after it arose and end before it died out, so either end may reach further. Shares are expected occurrences: a fossil dated to a span is counted partly in each period it straddles. More on what this infers.

Found in

11 formations

Lindos Bay — 36.09°N, 28.01°ELindos Bay — 36.26°N, 28.17°ELindos Bay — 36.36°N, 28.21°ERifle Butts — 45.03°S, 170.02°ERifle Butts — 45.08°S, 170.95°EHrušky — 48.81°N, 16.63°EMoodys Branch — 31.90°N, 88.69°WMoodys Branch — 31.89°N, 88.39°WBrackwater Molasse — 48.48°N, 10.10°EYazoo — 31.93°N, 91.94°WTamiami — 27.34°N, 82.51°WBowden — 17.88°N, 76.28°WBlanch Point — 35.25°S, 138.46°ESant’Agata Fossili — 45.07°N, 7.94°EPalos Verdes Sand — 33.75°N, 118.29°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Atherinidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 39 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Atherinidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Atherinidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,091 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 45 sites for Atherinidae, and this reads all of them. The number is how many of those sites it was catalogued from too. The 24 sharing the most are listed.

This is not a list of everything alive at the time. It is only what has come out of the same ground as this animal and been written down.

Entered from

31 references

Each of the 55 occurrences read was entered from one of these publications, ordered by how many each accounts for. This is not a search for papers mentioning the name. 19 further references are not listed. Entries link to doi.org where the Paleobiology Database holds an identifier, and to its own record where it does not. Relayed as the Paleobiology Database holds them, not checked against what they resolve to.

Media and terms

Media content1

Picture of Atherinidae

Credit
Etrusko25
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Atherinidae was found in Sketchfab.

Smithsonian Open Access and MorphoSource were not reached for this taxon, so this list is what the others held rather than everything there is.

The description on this site

Licence
CC BY-SA 4.0

This is what the site found, which is not the same as what exists.

Keep going

What may have been alongside itAtherinoidei through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Risso 1827