Fossil Fish – Aipichthys velifer

This is a beautifully preserved fossil fish from Haqel, Lebanon, a site that has been known for hundreds of years to have fish in its rocks. Aipichthys velifer is an extinct fish of the order Beryciformes, and is quite a scarce and collectable fish. The fine-grained limestones of Lebanon have beautifully preserved many species of fish, echinoderms and crustaceans from about 100 million years ago. They are similar in appearance to fish from the Green River Formation in the US, but considerably older.