The Scaly, Lepidotes (1832)

Phylum : Chordata Class : Actinopterygii Order : Semionotiformes Family : Semionotidae Genus : Lepidotes Species : L. gigas, L. elvensis, L. semiserratus, L. bülowianus

Lepidotes is an extinct genus of semionotid neopterygian ray-finned fish from the Jurassic period (Toarcian age) and Early Cretaceous. Fossils have been found in marine sediments of France, England, and Germany, and in Early Cretaceous sediments of Brazil.

Inhabiting both freshwater lakes and shallow seas, Lepidotes was typically about 30 centimetres long. The body was covered with thick, enamelled scales. Batteries of peg-like teeth enabled Lepidotes to crush the shells of its molluscan prey.

Lepidotes was one of the earliest fish in which the upper jawbones were no longer attached to the jugal bone. This allowed the jaws to be stretched into a 'tube' so that the fish could suck in prey from a greater distance than in previous species. This system is still seen in some modern fish, such as carp.