Symbolophorus

Symbolophorus is a genus of lanternfishes. It feeds on various small forms of sea life, in particular fish. Some species in this genus are known to exhibit the Stylophthalmine trait in their larval form. Symbolophorus grows slowly, and shows clear seasonal growth patterns that can be seen in its ear bones which records temperature change in the ocean’s environment.

Symbolophorus

Dr Tony Ayling · CC BY-SA 1.0 · 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
MyctophidaePBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Myctophiformes
Life habit
nektonicPBDB, for Myctophiformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Myctophiformes

Time the record covers

At least 21 million years on record.

The record covers at least 21.7 Mya to 11.7 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 25.2 Mya to 0 Mya.

Oligocene — about 1 of 43 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 20 of 43 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 8 of 43 occurrencesPliocenePleistocene — about 13 of 43 occurrencesPleistocene26–25 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences24–23 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences23–22 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 1 occurrence21–21 Mya — about 2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 2 occurrences20–19 Mya — about 2 occurrences19–18 Mya — about 1 occurrence18–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–16 Mya — about 1 occurrence16–15 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences15–15 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences13–12 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences12–11 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences11–10 Mya — about 1 occurrence10–9.4 Mya — about 1 occurrence9.4–8.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence8.6–7.7 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.7–6.9 Mya — about 0.9 occurrences6.9–6.0 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences6.0–5.1 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences5.1–4.3 Mya — about 1 occurrence4.3–3.4 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.4–2.6 Mya — about 4 occurrences2.6–1.7 Mya — about 4 occurrences1.7–857 ka Mya — about 2 occurrences857 ka–0 Mya — about 7 occurrences21.7 Mya11.7 ka25.7 Mya0 Mya

43 occurrences of Symbolophorus 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

43 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

18 formations

Palos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.75°N, 118.29°WBells Creek Mudstone — 41.34°S, 175.46°EMount Harris — 44.48°S, 170.90°EMount Harris — 44.49°S, 171.01°EDainichi — 34.80°N, 137.00°ESan Diego — 32.90°N, 117.10°WSan Diego — 32.54°N, 117.11°WBowden — 17.88°N, 76.28°WChagres Sandstone — 9.28°N, 80.04°WWaioha Shellbeds — 34.50°S, 172.96°EPakaurangi — 36.24°S, 174.28°EHukatere Sandstone — 36.23°S, 174.29°EBells Creek Limestone — 41.33°S, 175.48°EShinzato — 26.36°N, 127.98°EHijikata — 34.65°N, 138.04°ELomita Marl — 33.75°N, 118.30°WPico — 34.05°N, 118.24°WSant’Agata Fossili — 45.07°N, 7.94°EYokosuka — 35.26°N, 139.72°ECubagua — 10.57°N, 64.24°W

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Symbolophorus has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 20 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Symbolophorus and its relatives

Miocene

Where Symbolophorus and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,157 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 42 sites for Symbolophorus, 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

19 references

Each of the 43 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. 7 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 content2

Picture of Symbolophorus

Credit
Dr Tony Ayling
Licence
CC BY-SA 1.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Symbolophorus evermanni · MCZ:Ich:103597

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 itMyctophidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Bolin and Wisner 1959