Paranursallia spinosa n. gen., n. sp., a new Upper Cretaceous pycnodontiform fish from the Eurafrican Mesogea

The osteology of the fossil fish Paranursallia spinosa n. gen., n. sp., from the marine Upper Cenomanian of Tunisia, is studied in details. The new species belongs to the family Pycnodontidae and the subfamily Nursalliinae. It is closely allied to “Nursallia” gutturosa (Arambourg, 1954), a species from the Cenomanian of Morocco, but differs from it by some cranial characters, by the lesser number of scutes in the dorsal ridge and the ventral keel and by the lesser number of principal caudal rays. Paranursallia spinosa n. gen., n. sp. differs more markedly from Nursallia veronae Blot, 1987 (Middle Eocene, Italy), the type-species of the genus Nursallia Blot, 1987, and from Nursallia tethysensis Capasso, Abi Saad & Taverne, 2009 (Cenomanian, Lebanon). It is proposed to include “Nursallia” gutturosa in the new genus Paranursallia n. gen.