A REVIEW OF THE FOSSIL RECORD OF THE POMACENTRIDAE (TELEOSTEI, LABROIDEI) WITH A DESCRIPTION OF A NEW GENUS AND SPECIES FROM THE EOCENE OF MONTE-BOLCA, ITALY

The fossil record of the Pomacentridae has been based on species from sis genera. The status of these taxa is reviewed. Only two are tentati vely accepted as belonging to the Pomacentridae: Chromis savornini fro m the Miocene of Algeria and Izuus nakamurai from the Miocene of Japan . In addition, a new genus and species Palaeopomacentrus orphae is des cribed from the lower Middle Eocene of Monte Bolca, Northern Italy. Th is is the first substantiated record of a pomacentrid from the Eocene, and represents the oldest record of the family. (C) 1996 The Linnean Society of London