Palaeoniscoid Fish (Haplolepis sp.)

Palaeoniscoid fish are an extinct group of primitive ray-finned fish from 311 million years ago.

Palaeoniscoid fish have a bullet-shaped head, large eyes positioned forward, a large mouth, and a heterocercal caudal fin (a tail with two lobes--the upper lobe is larger than the lower). They also have thick, rhombic, armor-like scales made of dentine-type bone with a surface of hard enamel-like material called ganoin, and on the surface of the ganoin there are pits and fine canals. 

The Palaeoniscoids are divided into two family groups: the elonichthyids and the haplolepids.

Type: Palaeoniscoid Fish
Species: Haplolepis sp.
Age: Mid-Pennsylvanian (311-306 million years ago)
Locality: Allegheny Group. Channel below the Upper Freeport #7 Coal. Ohio Diamond Mine circa 1855-1921. 
Linton, Jefferson County, Ohio

Size: 3.5L x 2.5W x .25H inches
Weight: 1 oz.