Enchodus is an enchodontid aulopiform ray-finned bony fish from the Early Cretaceous-Eocene of the entire world. It was officially named in 1835 by Louis Agassiz. It was one of the most widespread marine bony fish during the Cretaceous, as well as one of the most successful, even happening to be a notable disaster taxon.
Physiology[]
Enchodus resembled a larger, bulkier hammerjaw (Omosudis lowii). It was a fish with a long, laterally-flattened body, rhomboid pectoral (arm), dorsal (back), and anal (rear) fins, rounded pelvic ("leg") fins, a forked, crescent-shaped caudal (tail) fin, and a large head with large eyes and big jaws. Its body would have been covered in smooth skin.
Diet[]
Enchodus was a predator that preyed on aquatic animals smaller than it, using the large fangs at the front of its jaws to get a hold of any struggling prey. However, its diet varied across species; smaller species would have preyed on small crustaceans and other zooplankton, while larger species would have preyed on smaller fish and even smaller, soft-bodied mollusks.
Ecology[]
As a relatively common animal in the ecosystems it would have inhabited, Enchodus would have stood near the middle of the food web; while it was prey to many larger marine animals such as plesiosaurs, mosasaurs, sharks, and larger bony fish (with smaller species even falling prey to diving birds), it, in turn, would have preyed on many animals smaller than it. Enchodus' diet would have varied across species, with smaller species such as E.zipapensis would have fed on amphipods and other large zooplankton, whereas larger species such as E.petrosus would have fed on smaller fish it saw, as well as squids and other soft-bodied mollusks. When feeding, Enchodus would have swam up to prey at a slight angle below them before biting down on them, spearing them with the fangs at the front of its jaws; it then would have had rapidly opened and closed its mouth in order to push its prey down its mouth. Similarly to its closest living relatives, lancetfish and the hammerjaw, Enchodus would have been a nocturnal or bathypelagic fish, and had large eyes that allowed it to see its prey in the dark; as well as this, its long, sleek body would have allowed it swim quickly, allowing it to quickly ambush prey and evade predators alike.