A fossil gourami (Teleostei, Anabantoidei) from probable Eocene deposits of the Ombilin Basin, Sumatra, Indonesia

ABSTRACT—Fossil fishes were first collected from deposits of the Sangkarewang Formation of the Ombilin Basin in Sumatra, Indonesia, in the 1870s, but a comprehensive study of these fishes was not published until almost 50 years later. New material from these deposits was collected in 2009, which included a small anabantoid fish. This fish is not conspecific with any of the material described previously and is here named as a new genus and species. A phylogenetic analysis indicates that the new anabantoid is closely related to Osphronemus among the taxa studied, and we place it in the family Osphronemidae. However, the new fish does not appear to belong to any of the named modern subfamilies, so we leave it incertae sedis in the family. Additionally, the osphronemid subfamilies are not recovered as a monophyletic group. The anabantoid named here and another previously described from the same locality are the only fossil anabantoids known. However, the age of the Sangkarewang Formation is not confirmed and has been variously attributed to Cretaceous, Palaeocene, Eocene, and Miocene, with Eocene being the presently favored estimate. Based on the presence of an anabantoid in these deposits, an Eocene age is reasonable and is not contradicted by the known fish fauna.

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