Fish Otoliths from the English Eocene

This monograph on the English Eocene fish otoliths will appear in parts. Part 1 includes a revised outline of English Eocene stratigraphy and a list of localities from which otoliths were obtained. The morphology and functions of otoliths of modern fishes are described, together with their relationship to fossil teleost faunas. Otoliths rarely occur with skeletal remains and reasons for this are considered. Otoliths are of limited use as zonal indicators but they may provide evidence of local ecological conditions.The systematic section describes 55 species of otoliths (29 new and 6 under open nomenclature) referable to 21 extant genera, representing 10 families from the Lepisosteidae to the Ophichthyidae in the classification of Greenwood et al. (1966).