A clupeomorph fish from the Gault (Lower Cretaceous)

A primitive clupeomorph fish, Spratticepsgaultinus gen. et sp. nov., is described on the basis of incomplete braincases from the Gault (Albian) of Folkestone, Kent. This is the earliest clupeomorph in which any details of cranial structure are known. Spratticeps is more primitive than living clupeomorphs in having no recessus lateralis, auditory fenestra, pterotic bulla or sinus temporalis, and in having a heavily ornamented, entire skull roof, with the sensory canals bone enclosed and the post-temporal fossa roofed. The fish is too primitive to be placed in either suborder of Clupeomorpha, and is left incertae sedis. The primary characters of the Clupeomorpha are discussed.