A New Genus and Species of Scombrid Fish (Perciformes, Scombroidei, Scombridae) from the Lower Oligocene of the Caucasus

A new genus and species of scombrid fish Caucombrus histiopterygius gen. et sp. nov. is described from the Lower Oligocene (Lower Maikopian, Pshekha regional state) of the north-western Caucasus (Russia) and Abkhazia (rivers Belaya, Pshekha and Gumista). The new taxon differs from the other known Scombridae, both fossil and Recent, by the high and sail-like first dorsal fin. Osteological characters of Caucombrus gen. nov. indicate its relationship with the Spanish mackerels (subfamily Scomberomorinae). It is assumed that either C. histiopterygius gen. et sp. nov. or the related species of Caucombrus gen. nov. inhabited the Mid-Oligocene sea basin in the territory of the Rhine Graben (Germany).