Enchodus

Enchodus
Temporal range: Albian-Maastrichtian
~ Possible Barremian & Paleogene records
E. petrosus mounted skeleton cast, Rocky Mountain Dinosaur Resource Center
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Chordata
Class: Actinopterygii
Order: Aulopiformes
Family: Enchodontidae
Genus: Enchodus
Agassiz, 1835
Type species
Esox lewesiensis
Mantell, 1822
Species

~26+, see text

Synonyms
  • Isodus Heckel, 1849
  • Phasganodus Leidy, 1857
  • Ischyrocephalus von der Marck, 1858
  • Solenodon Kramberger, 1881 (preocc.)
  • ?Tetheodus Cope, 1874
  • Holcodon Kramberger, 1885
  • Eurygnathus Davis, 1887 (preocc.)

Enchodus (from Greek: ἔγχος enchos, 'spear' and Greek: ὀδούς odoús 'tooth') is an extinct genus of aulopiform ray-finned fish related to lancetfish and lizardfish. Species of Enchodus flourished during the Late Cretaceous, where they were a widespread component of marine ecosystems worldwide, and there is some evidence that they may have survived to the Paleocene or Eocene; however, this may just represent reworked Cretaceous material.