Hurchillo (province d'Alicante, Espagne) : un gisement de poissons messiniens d'un type encore inconnu

Abstract

The discovery of a new fossiliferous locality yielding a type of marine fish-fauna that was up to now unknown, is reported from the pre-evaporitic Messinian of Hurchillo, near Orihuela (Alicante Province, Spain). In fact, with more than 60% of the studied material, Sardina? crassa (Sauvage) is predominant. This species is surprisingly associated with Myctophids, which make up almost 13% of the fish fauna. Such a community indicates that the fossiliferous locality was generated in a shallow, sublittoral environment, which was nevertheless connected to the open sea from which the Myctophids were drifted by currents.