A new actinopterygian species of Igornichthys Heyler, 1972 from the Permian of the Krkonoše Piedmont Basin (Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic), and its relationship to the actinopterygians of other European Permo-Carboniferous basins

A new actinopterygian species from lacustrine Lower Permian deposits of the Krkonoše Piedmont Basin (Bohemian Massif, Czech Republic) is assigned to the genus Igornichthys Heyler, 1972. Present study of this new species reveals several anatomical structures that markedly advance our knowledge and make the generic diagnosis of Igornichthys more precise. Characters that include sharply pointed spines on the scales, a supraorbital sensory canal continuing from the frontal on to the dermopterotic, a maxilla with the maxillary plate protruding at a ventro-posteriorly angle, dentition forming a single row of similar conical teeth, and an oblong operculum are diagnostic of the new species. Igornichthys is placed within Igornichthyidae Heyler, 1977 together with Igornella Heyler, 1969, Setlikia Štamberg & Zajíc, 1994 and Commentrya Sauvage, 1888 from the Stephanian and Lower Permian of the French Massif central and the Bohemian Massif. Analysis of the anatomical features of Igornichthys and other members of Igornichthyidae demonstrates clear differences from other actinopterygians occurring in the lacustrine basins of the Carboniferous and Lower Permian. The occurrence of very closely related species within Igornichthys and genera included in Igornichthyidae and Amblypteridae Romer, 1945, documents an extensive interconnection among the lacustrine basins of the French Massif central, the Saar Nahe Basin and the Bohemian Massif in the Late Carboniferous and particularly in the Early Permian.