Dineley, D. & Metcalf, S. GCR Editor: D. Palmer. 1999. Fossil Fishes of Great Britain. Geological Conservation Review Series No. 16. JNCC, Peterborough, ISBN 1 86107 470 0. The original source material for these web pages has been made available by the JNCC under the Open Government Licence 3.0. Full details in the JNCC Open Data Policy

Tables

(Table 1.1) Classification of fishes and amphibians (living = t; paraphyletic exceptions = *).

Phylum Chordata
Subphylum Tunicata (Urochordata)
Subphylum Cephalochordata (Acraniata)
Subphylum Vertebrata (Craniata)
*Class Agnatha (jawless fish)
†Subclass Myxinoidea
Subclass Conodonta
†Subclass Petromyzontida
Subclass Anaspida
Subclass unnamed (Pteraspidomorphi)
Order Thelodonti
Order Heterostraci
Order Arandaspida
Order Astraspida
Subclass unnamed
Order Galeaspida
Order Osteostraci
Infraphylum Gnathostomata (jawed fish)
Class Chondrichthyes (cartillaginous fish)
†(Subclass Elasmobranchii (sharks, rays)
Cohort Euselachii
Order Ctenacanthiformes
Order Hybodontiformes
Order Xenacanthiformes
Order Symmoriiformes
Order Eugeneodontiformes
Order Petalodontiformes
†Subcohort Neoselachii
Superorder Squalomorphii
Superorder Squatinomorphii
Superorder Galeomorphii
Superorder Batomorphii
Subclass Subterbranchialia
Order Iniopterygiformes
Order Chondrenchelyiformes
†Subclass Holocephali (ratfish, etc.)
Order Helodontiformes
Order Bradyodontiformes
Class Placodermi (armour-plated fish)
Order Stensioellida
Order Pseudopetalichthyida
Order Ptyctodontida
*Order Acanthothoraci
Order Petalichthyida
Order Phyllolepida
Order Arthrodira
Order Antiarchi
Class Acanthodii (spiny fish)
Order Acanthodiformes
Order Climatiiformes
Order Ischnacanthiformes
Class Osteichthyes (bony fish)
†(Subclass Actinopterygii (ray-finned fish)
Family Cheirolepididae
Infraclass Cladistia
Family Polypteridae
Infraclass Actinopteri
Order Dorypteriiformes
Order Bobasatraniiformes
Order Saurichthyiformes
†Superdivision Chondrostei
Family Acipenseridae
Family Polyodontidae
†Superdivision Neopterygii
Order Palaeonisciformes
Order Pholidopleuriformes
Order Perleidiformes
Order Peltopleuriformes
†Division Ginglymodi
Family Lepisosteidae
Division Halecostomi
Family Semionotidae
Family Dapediidac
Family Macrosemiidae
Order Pycnodontiformes
†Subdivision Haleomorphi
Order Parasemionotiformes
Order Amiiformes
†Subclass Teleostei
Unnamed subdivision
Family Pachycormidae
Family Aspidorhynchidae
Family Pholidophoridae
Family Leptolepidae
Family lchthyodectidae
†Supercohort Osteoglossomorpha
Order Osteoglossiformes
†Supercohort Elopocephala
Cohort Elopomorpha
Order Anguilliformes
Cohort Clupeocephala
Order Crossognathiformes
Subcohort Clupeomorpha
Order Ellimmichthyiformes
Order Clupeiformes
Subcohort Euteleosti
Order Esociformes
†Division Ostariophysi
Order Gonorhynchiformes
Order Cypriniformes
Order Characiformes
Order Siluriformes
†Division Neognathi
Order Salmoniformes
Subdivision Neoteleostei
Order Stomiiformes
Order Aulopiformes
Order Polymixiiformes
Superorder Paracanthopterygii
Series Atherinomorpha
Order Atheriniformes
Order Cyprinodontiformes
Order Beloniformes
Series Percomorpha
Order Bercyformes
Order Lampridiformes
Order Zeiformes
Order Gasterosteiformes
Order Dactyliopteriformes
Order Scorpaeniformes
Order Perciformes
Order Pleuronectiformes
Order Tetraodontiformes
†Subclass Sarcopterygii (lobe-finned fish)
†Infraclass Dipnoiformes
Order Diabolepida
Order Dipnoi (lung fish)
†Infraclass Actinistia (Coelacanths)
Infraclass Rhipidistia
Order Porolepiformes
Order Rhizodontiformes
Order Osteolepiformes
Order Panderichthyida
Superclass Tetrapoda
*Class Amphibia
Family Elginerpetontidae
Family Acanthostegidae
Family Ichthyostegidae
Family Tulerpetontidae
Family Crassigyrinidae
Family Baphetidae
†Subclass Batrachomorpha
?Order Aistopoda
Order Nectridea
Family Colosteidae
Order Microsauria
Order Temnospondyli
Family Dendrerpetontidae
Family Brachyopidae
Family Rhinesuchidae
Family Capitosauridae
Family Trematosauridae
†Intraclass Lissamphibia
Order Gymnophiona
Order Urodela
Order Anura
Subclass Reptilomorpha
Order Anthracosauria
Order Seymouria
Order Diadectomorpha

(Table 1.2) Fossil fish sites described in this volume. See also (Figure 1.15).

Lower Palaeozoic sites

Silurian

1. Birk Knowes, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire (Wenlockian)

2. Dunside*, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire (Wenlockian)

3. Shiel Burn, Hagshaw Hills, Strathclyde (Wenlockian)

4. Dippal Burn*, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire (Wenlockian)

5. Slot Burn, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire (Wenlockian)

6. Birkenhead Burn, Lesmahagow, Lanarkshire (Wenlockian)

7. Ardmore–Gallanach, Argyll and Bute (Přídolí/Downtonian)

8. The Toutties, Stonehaven, Kincardineshire (?Přídolí/Downtonian)

9. Cwar Glas, Dyfed (Gorstian, Ludlovian)

10. Church Hill Quarry, Leintwardine, Herefordshire (Přídolí/Downtonian)

11. Ludford Lane, Ludlow, Shropshire (Přídolí/Downtonian)

12. Ledbury Cutting, Herefordshire (Přídolí/Downtonian)

13. Temeside, Ludlow, Shropshire, (Přídolí/Downtonian)

14. Tite's Point, Gloucestershire (Přídolí/Downtonian)

15. Lydney, Gloucestershire (Přídolí/Downtonian)

16. Downton Castle Area, Herefordshire (Přídolí/Downtonian) Downton Castle Bridge, Tin Mill Race, Forge Rough Weir and Castle Bridge Mill

17. Bradnor Hill, Kington, Herefordshire (Přídolí/Downtonian)

Upper Palaeozoic Sites

Silurian-Devonian

18. Devil's Hole, Morville, Shropshire (Přídolí–Lochkovian/Downtonian–Dittonian)

Devonian

19. Oak Dingle, Tugford, Shropshire (Lochkovian/Dittonian)

20. Cwm Mill, Abergavenny, Gwent (Lochkovian/Dittonian)

21. Wayne Herbert Quarry, Herefordshire (Lochkovian/Dittonian)

22. Besom Farm Quarry, Burwarton, Shropshire (Lochkovian/Dittonian)

23. Hoel Senni Quarry, Powys (Lochkovian–Pragian/Dittonian–Breconian)

24. Tillywhandland Quarry and Whitehouse Den (two sites) Forfarshire (Lochkovian)

25. Aberlemno Quarry, Forfarshire (?Lochkovian/Dittonian)

26. Wolf's Hole Quarry, Forfarshire (?Lochkovian/Dittonian)

27. Westerdale Quarry, Caithness (Eifelian)

28. Achanarras Quarry, Caithness (Eifelian–Givetian)

29. Cruaday Quarry, Orkney (Eifelian–Givetian)

30. Black Park, Edderton, Sutherland (Eifelian–Givetian)

31. Den of Findon, Ross and Cromarty (Eifelian–Givetian)

32. Tynet Burn, Morayshire (Eifelian)

33. Melby, Shetland (Eifelian–Givetian)

34. Papa Stour, Shetland (Eifelian–Givetian)

35. Dipple Brae, Morayshire (Givetian)

36. Spinal Quarry, Caithness (Givetian)

37. Banniskirk Quarry, Caithness (Givetian)

38. Holburn Head Quarry, Caithness (Givetian)

39. Weydale Quarry, Caithness (Givetian)

40. Pennyland Quarry, Caithness (Givetian)

41. John o'Groats, Caithness (Givetian)

42. The Cletts, Exnaboe, Shetland (Givetian)

43. Sumburgh Head, Shetland (Givetian)

44. Bedruthan Steps, Cornwall (?Emsian-Eifelian)

45. Mill Rock, Woolacombe, Devon (Givetian)

46. Afon y Waen*, Breconshire (Famennian/Farlovian)

47. Portishead, Somerset (Famennian/Farlovian)

48. Prescott Corner, Farlow, Shropshire (Famennian/Farlovian)

49. Oxendean Burn, Berwickshire (Frasnian)

50. Hawk's Heugh, Berwiskshire (Famennian)

51. Boghole, Muckle Burn, Nairnshire (Frasnian)

52. Scaat Craig, Morayshire (Frasnian)

Carboniferous

53. Foulden, Berwiskshire (Tournaisian)

54. Wardie, Midlothian (Viséan)

55. Glencartholm, Berwickshire (Viséan)

56. Cheese Bay, Midlothian (Asbian, Viséan)

57. Inchkeith, Fife (?Brigantian, Viséan)

58. Ardross Castle, Fife (Brigantian, Viséan)

59. Abden, Kirkaldy, Fife (Brigantian, Viséan)

60. Steeplehouse Quarry, Derbyshire (?Asbian, Viséan)

61. Bearsden, Glasgow (Pendleian, Namurian)

Permian

62. Middridge*, County Durham (Ufimian)

Mesozoic sites

Triassic

63. Sidmouth*, East Devon (Anisian)

64. Aust Cliff*, Avon (Rhaetian)

Jurassic

65. Lyme Regis Coast, Dorset (Hettangian, Sinemurian)

66. Blockley Station Quarry, Gloucestershire (Pliensbachian)

67. Whitby Coast*, Yorkshire (Toarcian)

68. Stonesfield*, Oxfordshire (Bathonian)

69. Kirtlington Old Cement Works Quarry, Oxfordshire (Bathonian)

70. Watton Cliff, Dorset (Bathonian)

71. Kimmeridge Bay*, Dorset (Kimmeridgian)

72. Durlston Bay, Dorset (Tithonian)

Cretaceous

73. Hastings*, East Sussex (Berriasian-Barremian)

74. Brook–Atherfield Point*, Isle of Wight (Barremian-Aptian)

75. East Wear Bay*, Folkestone, Kent (Albian)

76. Blue Bell Hill Pits, Burham, Kent (Cenomanian-Turonian)

77. Totternhoe, Bedfordshire (Cenomanian)

78. Southerham (Machine Bottom Pit)*, Lewes, East Sussex (Cenomanian–Turonian)

79. Southerham Grey Pit, Lewes, East Sussex (Cenomanian)

80. Southerham (Lime Kiln Quarries), Lewes, East Sussex (Turonian)

81. Boxford Chalk Pit, Berkshire (Turonian–Santonian)

Cenozoic sites

Palaeocene and Eocene

82. Pegwell Bay, Kent

83. Herne Bay, Kent (Palaeocene)

84. Upnor, Kent (Eocene)

85. Abbey Wood, Greater London (Eocene)

86. Bognor Regis, West Sussex (Eocene)

87. Maylandsea, Essex (Eocene)

88. Sheppey, Kent (Eocene)

89. Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex (Eocene)

90. Brackelsham Bay, West Sussex (Eocene)

91. Lee-on-Solent, Hampshire (Eocene)

92. Barton Cliff, Hampshire (Eocene)

93. Hordle Cliff*, Hampshire (Eocene)

94. King's Quay, Isle of Wight (Eocene)

Sites described primarily for their tetrapod fossils

95. East Kirkton, West Lothian (Brigantian, Viséan)

96. Headon Hill*, Isle of Wight (Eocene)

*Sites proposed for the GCR on account of their fossil fish and amphibian fauna; many of these localities have already been selected for the GCR on other counts (e.g. fossil reptiles or mammals).

(Table 3.1) Section of the Ledbury Group, described as 225 m of alternating thick red mudstones and red to purple micaceous sandstones with abundant vertebrates in the lowest 120 m

Thickness ft [in]
Red marls, clays and thin sandstones, with Pterygotus, Cephalaspis, Kallostrakon. Didymaspis came from immediately above the Ledbury Grits (Lankester, 1867) 332 ft [101 m]
Upper Ledbury Grit. Bluish grey grit, poorly sorted, quartzitic, calcareous, hard, compact. Contains fewer fossils than lower bed, and these are more broken up 2 ft [0.6 m]
Blue mud (soft shale) 1 ft [0.3 m]
Auchenaspis Bed or 'Lower Ledbury Grits'. Poorly sorted, quartzitic, gritty and calcareous. Full of fragments of fishes and crustaceans. Abundant heads of Auchenaspis egertoni, Hemicyclaspis murchisoni, Onchus, ?Plectrodus, Pterygotus, Lingula. 3 ft [0.9 m]
Red and purple shales with occasional Hemicyclaspis 64 ft [19.5 m]
Blue mudstone with scattered Lingula 3 ft [0.9 m]
Red marls and shales, with a few thin sandstones 74 ft [22.6 m]
Soft band with Hemicyclaspis, Auchenaspis (partly articulated), Onchus, Lingula, etc. 1 ft [0.3 ml
Hard sandstone 4 ft [1.2 m]
Shales and marls 5 ft [1.5 m [
Cephalaspis Bed. Fine-grained sandstone, packed with fishes: abundant
Hemicyclaspis complete, Auchenaspis rarer. Lingula spp. 3 ft [0.9 m]
Blue shales with Pterygotus 1 ft [0.3 m]
Red shales and marls with rare thin sandstones 80 ft [24.4 m]
Lingula Bed (?lens). Greenish grey shales. Lingula common, plus
Pterygotus 4 ft [1.2 ml
Shales and marls 109 ft [33.2 m]
Laminated shales with thin sandstone 9 ft [2.7 m]
Shales and marls 33 ft [10.1 m]
Downton Sandstone. Contains Onchus murchisoni (Woodward, 1891a) 58 ft [17.7 m]
Upper Ludlow 90 ft [27.4 ml
Aymestry Rocks

(Table 3.2) Comparison of faunal assemblages at Ludlow railway cutting, Temeside and Ledbury.

Ludlow railway cutting Temeside Ledbury
Hemicyclaspis lightbodii H. lightbodii R H. lightbodii R
H. (prob.) murchisoni C H. murchisoni R H. murchisoni R
?Hemicyclaspis sp. R
Auchenaspis salteri Au. ?salteri R Au. egertoni A
Onchus murchisoni Onchus spp. C Onchus spp. R
Pl. mirabilis C
Plectrodus sp. Plectrodus sp. A Plectrodus sp. R
climatiid sp. C
ischnacanthid sp. C
Pterygotus anglicus Pt. banksii C
Pt. ludensis A Pterygotus sp. C
Pt. gigas R
Pt. problematicus C
Stylonurus megalops
Eurypterus pygmaeus ?R Eurypterus spp.
Eu. acuminatus ?R
Lingula cornea C L. cornea R Lingula sp. C
plant material A plant material ?
A = abundant.
C = common
R = rare
(compiled from Woodward, 1872; Elles and Slater, 1906; Piper, 1895; Stensiö, 1932; MA. Rowlands and P. Tan-ant collections, SMLU).

(Table 4.1) Thelodont faunas in the Upper Silurian-Lower Devonian Old Red Sandstone of the Anglo-Welsh Basin. They are based on scale species (largely after Turner, 1973): recent discoveries, as yet unpublished, show that other fish groups are also represented by scales and may be of similar stratigraphical value.

Thelodont fauna Stratigraphical Formation
Turinia pagei Ditton Group
T. pagei fauna with Apalolepis 'Psammosteus'Limestone
Lower Ditton Group
Goniporus, L. kummerowi, Katoporodus sp. with L. cuneata Upper Red Downton Group
Acanthodians only (M. Downtonian) Holdgate Sandstone Group
Thelodus parvidens fauna, with G. alatus and K. tricavus T parvidens fauna, including L. ludlowiensis, T. bicostatus, T. trilobatus, T. pugniformis, and T. costatus T. parvidens, L. ludlowiensis and T. bicostatus T. parvidens and L. ludlowiensis Lower Red Downton Group

(Table 11.1) Aust Cliff section (based on Reynolds, 1946; Hamilton, 1977; Warrington et al., 1980).

Thickness (m)
JURASSIC Lower Lias Blue Lias (Hettangian) planorbis Beds (variable)
TRIASSIC Lower Lias Pre planorbis Beds (variable)
Penarth Group Lilstock Formation Westbury Formation c. 3.40 c. 4.30
Mercia Mudstone Group Blue Anchor Formation Red mudstones c. 7.0 c. 30.0
CARBONIFEROUS Carboniferous Limestone (variable)

(Table 14.1) Table of Palaeogene formations and environments in southern Britain.

Formation Depositional environment
Hamstead Beds marine, estuarine and lacustrine clays
Bembridge Beds and Osborne Beds marine and freshwater marls and limestones
Headon Beds marine and freshwater clays and sands
Barton Beds marine sands and clays
Bracklesham and Bagshot Beds marine and fluvial sands
London Clay marine clay with basal sand
Oldhaven and Blackheath Beds estuarine sands
Woolwich and Reading Beds marine and estuarine clays and sands with freshwater clays
Thanet Beds marine sands

References