A review of otoliths collected by W. Weiler from the Badenian of Romania and by B. Strashimirov from Badenian equivalents of Bulgaria

The early Badenian represents the last period of unrestricted marine connectivity with adjacent oceans in the history of the Paratethys. A comprehensive capture of the fish fauna roaming the early Badenian seas of the Paratethys is necessary to fully comprehend the endemic evolution that took the stage following its isolation during the Serravallian (late Badenian in the Central Paratethys and Karaganian and Konkian in the Eastern Paratethys). Many publications have dealt with early Badenian otolith-based fish assemblages in the northern and western parts of the Central Paratethys, but coeval faunas from the southeastern Central Paratethys and the Eastern Paratethys are scarce and in dire need of revision. Here I present a review of the rich otolith assemblage described by Weiler in 1950 from the early Badenian of Coşteiu de Sus and Lăpugiu de Sus in Romania and update their identifications. The review results in the recognition of a number of new species, i.e. Aulopus costeiensis n. sp., Bathypterois solidus n. sp., Myripristis lobata n. sp., Lesueurigobius magniiugis n. sp., Weilerigobius lapugiensis n. gen., n. sp., Callanthias transylvanicus n. sp. and Pagellus schuberti n. sp. A comparison with the well known otolithbased fish faunas from the northern and western Central Paratethys reveals good correlation, but nearly one quarter of all fish species are not recorded from there. The most likely explanation of this phenomenon is a latitudinal / climatic difference and probably a greater influence of Eastern Paratethyan elements in Romania. A much smaller collection from Badenian equivalent strata of wells in Bulgaria, inherited from B. Strashimirov, was also studied. It contained the first fossil record of the gobioid family Microdesmidae - Microdesmus paratethycus n. sp. This collection is dominated by very small otoliths that appear to have been collected in the course of search for microfossils and hence shows many small fish representatives missing from the Romanian locations. The role of collecting bias versus potential faunal differences is discussed with this example. It is concluded that the knowledge of the early Badenian otolith-based fish fauna of the Central Paratethys is much improved, albeit far from being completely assessed. Important additional data, however, are more likely to be expected from coeval Eastern Paratethyan strata when comprehensively collected and older material being reviewed, if still available.