Aeduella blainvillei Paleozoic Fish Fossil from Odernheim Red Beds

This is a particulary well preserved example of a Paleoniscoid fish known as Aeduella. The paleoniscoids were the first ray-finned fish, a feature readily seen here. It is a middle sized predatory fish, with a laterally compressed body, very large eyes, scales rectangular. Some 40 or more families appeared during the Carboniferous and Permian Periods. The Jeckenbach Formation is famous for the abundant fish genus Paramblypterus found there. The Aeduella are rarely found. They come from a thin layer within the larger formation. The matrix is lighter in color and of a different composition than the black shaly surrounding strata. Quarrying at the site ended in the 1980s.

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