Cynoglossidae

Tonguefishes are flatfish in the family Cynoglossidae. They are distinguished by the presence of a long hook on the snout overhanging the mouth, and the absence of pectoral fins. Their eyes are both on the left side of their bodies, which also lack a pelvic fin. This family has three genera with a total of more than 140 species. The largest reaches a length of 66 cm (26 in), though most species only reach half that size or less. They are found in tropical and subtropical oceans, mainly in shallow waters and estuaries, though some species are found in deep sea floors, and even a few in rivers.

Cynoglossidae

Gihan Jayaweera · CC BY-SA 3.0 · 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
PleuronectoideiPBDB
Diet
carnivorePBDB, for Pleuronectiformes
Life habit
nektobenthicPBDB, for Pleuronectiformes
Motility
actively mobilePBDB, for Pleuronectiformes

Time the record covers

At least 37 million years on record.

The record covers at least 37.71 Mya to 129 ka. No occurrence read is dated outside 41.03 Mya to 0 Mya.

Eocene — about 1 of 14 occurrencesEoceneOligocene — about 1 of 14 occurrencesOligoceneMiocene — about 6 of 14 occurrencesMiocenePliocene — about 3 of 14 occurrencesPleistocene — about 3 of 14 occurrences42–40 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences40–39 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences39–38 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences28–27 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences27–25 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences25–24 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences24–22 Mya — about 0.3 occurrences22–21 Mya — about 0.2 occurrences21–20 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences20–18 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences18–17 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences17–15 Mya — about 0.7 occurrences15–14 Mya — about 1.0 occurrences14–13 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences13–11 Mya — about 0.4 occurrences11–9.8 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences9.8–8.4 Mya — about 0.6 occurrences8.4–7.0 Mya — about 0.5 occurrences5.6–4.2 Mya — about 2 occurrences4.2–2.8 Mya — about 1 occurrence2.8–1.4 Mya — about 0.1 occurrences1.4–0 Mya — about 3 occurrences37.71 Mya129 ka41.9 Mya0 Mya

14 occurrences of Cynoglossidae 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

14 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

8 formations

Gatun — 9.36°N, 79.84°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.99°N, 118.45°WPalos Verdes Sand — 33.75°N, 118.29°WYorktown — 35.36°N, 76.82°WCantaure — 11.97°N, 70.02°WOnzole — 0.87°N, 79.89°WSocorro — 11.38°N, 69.72°WBowden — 17.88°N, 76.28°WNanggulan — 7.73°S, 110.18°E

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The named rock units Cynoglossidae has been recovered from, largest first. Drawn where the rock is now, not where it formed. 4 occurrences have no formation on record, which is common for older literature.

Cynoglossidae and its relatives

Miocene

Where Cynoglossidae and its relatives were recorded in the Miocene.

Found in the same rock

1,157 taxa

The Paleobiology Database records 11 sites for Cynoglossidae, 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

11 references

Each of the 14 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. 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 Cynoglossidae

Credit
Gihan Jayaweera
Licence
CC BY-SA 3.0
Commercial use
the licence allows it

No 3D scan of Cynoglossidae 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 itPleuronectoidei through timeFormations of the MioceneThe world it lived on

Occurrence data from the Paleobiology Database, CC BY 4.0. Jordan 1963