Atherina

Atherina is a genus of fish of silverside family Atherinidae, found in the temperate and tropic zones. Up to 15 cm (5.9 in) long, they are widespread in the Mediterranean, Black Sea and Sea of Azov; in lagoons such as Syvash in Ukraine; and estuaries. They enter the lower reaches of the Dnieper, Southern Bug, Dniester and Danube Rivers. They can also be found in the freshwater Lake Trichonis of Greece, and there is an isolated population in the Caspian Sea.

Atherina

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
AtherinidaePBDB
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 774 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 56 Mya to 129 ka.

Paleocene — about 0 of 36 occurrencesEocene — about 6 of 36 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 2 of 36 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 22 of 36 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 1 of 36 occurrencesPleistocene — about 5 of 36 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 0.3 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.8 occurrences40–38 Mya — about 1 occurrence38–36 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences36–34 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences34–32 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences32–30 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences30–29 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences29–27 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences25–23 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences23–21 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences21–19 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences19–17 Mya — about 1 occurrence17–15 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences15–13 Mya — about 2 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 5 occurrences11–9.5 Mya — about 1 occurrence9.5–7.6 Mya — about 1 occurrence7.6–5.7 Mya — about 8 occurrences5.7–3.8 Mya — about 2 occurrences3.8–1.9 Mya — about 3 occurrences1.9–0 Mya — about 3 occurrences48.07 Mya774 ka57 Mya0 Mya

36 occurrences of Atherina on record, most of them in the Miocene. The Paleobiology Database records this as a living group, and the chart stops with its fossils rather than at the present. 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

36 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

5 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°WSant’Agata Fossili — 45.07°N, 7.94°E

Loading coastlines…

The named rock units Atherina has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 26 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Atherina and its relatives

Miocene

Where Atherina and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

654 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 30 sites for Atherina, 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

20 references

Each of the 36 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. 8 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 Atherina

Credit
Etrusko25
Licence
Public Domain
Commercial use
the licence allows it

CT scan

Licence
In Copyright
Commercial use
cannot be read from the licence given — check the record
Specimen
Atherina hepsetus · CUMV:Fish:47424

Smithsonian Open Access was 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 itAtherinidae through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Linnaeus 1758