A first Late Permian fish fauna from Baghuk Mountain (Neo-Tethyan shelf, central Iran)

A diverse Late Permian assemblage of chondrichthyan and actinopterygian micro- and macroremains is presented from the central Iranian locality of Baghuk Mountain for the first time. The vertebrate remains were found in sediments containing mainly pelagic organisms such as nautiloids, ammonoids, and conodonts. Their habitat is interpreted as a deep shelf area with well-oxygenated bottom water conditions below the storm wave base. The chondrichthyans are represented by various dermal denticles, a fragment of a spine, and a low number of teeth from mostly durophagous hybodontiforms and eugeneodontiforms. A new eugeneodontid species is described as Bobbodus xerxesi sp. nov.; this genus was known only from the east coast of the former Panthalassic Ocean. The actinopterygian remains are represented by dermal bones, teeth, and scales. The bones are only fragmentarily preserved. The Baghuk Mountain vertebrate fauna shows closest similarities to remains known from the Russian Platform and from localities situated at the east coastal region of the Panthalassic Ocean (central United States).