A new fish horizon from the Maltese Miocene and its palaeoecological significance

Abstract

Hitherto undescribed strata containing well-preserved fish occur at the base of the Tortonian, Upper Coralline Limestone Formation at Il Fawwara, Malta. The major elements of the fish fauna are Bregmaceros albyi, Syngnathus sp.a sciaenid and indeterminate members of the Percoidei. Collectively these fish are considered to represent part of a shallow marine assemblage tolerant to both sedimentation and salinity fluctuations. Detailed work on the associated fossils and sediments leads to the conclusion that this bed accumulated during a brief interval when shallow water sediments and biota were intermittently carried into a small shelf depression by a succession of density flows. Evidence is presented to suggest that these flows were set in motion by periodic storm activity affecting shallow water areas adjacent to a carbonate coastline of low relief.