Otolithes de Teleosteens et biostratigraphie des Sables de Zonderschot (Miocene Moyen de la Belgique)

The washing of more than ten metric tons of sediment from various temporary outcrops and from borings in the Zonderschot Sands yielded otoliths of sixty-three teleostean species, of which one is new to science (Echiodon heinzelini). Twenty-three species were until now not known from the Belgian Miocene, and three genera, Pisoodonophis, Mystriophis and Ateleopus had not yet been recognized in the fossil record. The number of otolith species of the Zonderschot Sands known until now was 31. Four of these have not been encountered in the present samples, hence the total number of species is sixty-seven. A high number of otoliths of Gadiculus labiatus characterizes ail the associations of the Zonderschot Sands and provides a sure means of distinguishing these from the Antwerp Sands. The stratotype of the Zonderschot Sands is redescribed extensively and three reference sections are designated.