A new pycnodontiform fish from the early Cretaceous of Las Hoyas (Cuenca, Spain)

Stenamara mia is a new genus and species of a rare pycnodontiform fish from the Barremian, early Cretaceous, lacustrine beds of Las Hoyas, province of Cuenca, Spain. It was previously considered Eomesodon sp., but a number of characters clearly separates it from the genus Eomesodon: lack of prognath ism; absence of nuchal plates; presence of a parietal process and of only t wo rows of teeth in the prearticular; and peltate pattern of ossification a nd distribution of scales, that is, scales are present only before the leve l of the unpaired fins, and are complete only in the ventralmost abdominal area. The unique combination of these and other characters, plus the follow ing autopomorphies, diagnoses the new taxon: presence of a strongly curved dorsal prominence that results in an ovoid shape of the contour of the body ; body deeper than long, with maximum body height near 125 % of standard le ngth; and narrow, high cloaca formed by only two differentiated scales, the posterior one considerably longer than the anterior one. Stenamara min nov . gen. nov. sp. is considered a primitive Pycnodontidae, pending a cladisti c analysis to determine precisely its phylogenetic relationships.