Pinichthys werneri sp. nov., a New Species of Stromateid Fishes (Perciformes, Stromateoidei) from the Terminal Maikopian (Uppermost Lower–Lowermost Middle Miocene) of the Eastern Paratethys

The stromateid fish Pinichthys werneri sp. nov. (Perciformes, Stromateoidei), the fourth species of the Oligocene–Miocene genus Pinichthys Bannikov, 1985, is described from the terminal Maikopian (uppermost Lower–lowermost Middle Miocene) of the northwestern Caucasus (Krasnodar Region, Pshekha River) based on three skeletons. The new species differs from P. pulcher Bannikov, 1988, P. fractus Bannikov, 1985, and P. shirvanensis Bannikov, 2021 in the structure of the anal fin: fewer spines and more soft rays. In the new species, tricuspid teeth (a character typical of the family Stromateidae) are located in most of the jaws, but the anterior teeth are unicuspid. An incomplete specimen from the coeval deposits of the Kerch Peninsula, previously attributed to P. fractus, a species known from the upper Maikopian of the Absheron Peninsula, is assigned to the new species.