PaleoBios, Volume 15, Number 1, Pages 9-13, May 24, 1993 Preliminary List of the Marine Fishes and Other Vertebrate Remains from the Late Pleistocene Palos Verdes Sand Formation at Costa Mesa, Orange County, California Douglas J. Long Department of Integrative Biology and the Museum of Paleontology University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 INTRODUCTION Pleistocene marine deposits along the southern coast of California have produced the most diverse assemblages of marine fishes from any period of the Cenozoic in the western United States. The most extensive deposit, the late Pleistocene Palos Verdes Sand, was first collected by Arnold (1903), and later by Kanakoff (1956) who reported 28 taxa of marine fishes. Further excavations by Fitch (1970) yielded fossil remains of 18 taxa of elasmobranchs and 84 taxa of teleosts from several localities in southern California, including outcrops of the Palos Verdes Sand in Newport Beach, Orange County, California. Unfortunately, these localities, and most other Pleistocene marine deposits reported by Fitch (1964, 1966, 1967, 1968, 1970) have since been destroyed by construction projects. However, a large-scale, long-term construction project in Costa Mesa, Orange County, California, opened a new locality, a southern extension of the late Pleistocene Palos Verdes Sand Formation, containing a wealth of vertebrates, including at least 41 species of marine fishes. Of these, six are first fossil records, and 19 species are southern records for the deposit. LOCALITY Construction of an extension of freeway 55 along Newport Boulevard in Costa Mesa, Orange County, California, exposed a series of large and deep pits that cut into the southernmost extension of the Palos Verdes Sand. This excavation exposed several sections of highly fossiliferous marine sediments one to five meters thick. I collected at University of California Museum of Paleontology vertebrate locality V-93124, at the intersection of Newport Boulevard and the south side of Santa Isabel Avenue, approximately 33° 39' 26" N and 117° 54' 08" W (Figure 1). This locality has since been paved over and is no longer accessable. Figure 1. Map of the Costa Mesa-Newport Beach area (Orange County, CA) showing the location of site V-93124 (Late Pleistocene Palos Verdes Sand Formation) where specimens discussed in this paper were collected. AGE Based on the invertebrate fauna, Mount (1981) estimated the age of the site to be roughly 120,000 years old. An outcrop of the Palos Verdes Sand from the San Joaquin Hills south of Newport Beach, possibly from the same horizon as the Santa Isabel site, was estimated to be about 120,000 to 130,000 years old (Barrie et al., 1991). in New Additions to the Pleistocene Vertebrate Record of California (R. G. Dundas and D. J. Long, eds.), PaleoBios v.15. Page 10 New Records of Pleistocene Marine Fishes Long METHODS The deposit contained strata of very dry and friable sands, gravels, and uncemented shell hash. The exposed shell beds were dug and dry- screened on site using four sizes of mesh, the smallest being 40 mesh. The size-sorted matrix was later picked for vertebrate material, the smallest size fraction was picked under a stereomicroscope. Identifications of fish remains were based on recent comparative material in the University of California Museum of Paleontology Recent element collection, and from the private collection of M. A. Roeder. RESULTS Aside from several reptile, bird, and mammal fossils (Table 1), this site produced 17 species of elasmobranchs and 24 species of teleosts (Appendix 1). Elasmobranch remains were represented largely by isolated teeth, but many vertebrae were identified to the species level, and large dermal denticles and tail barbs from batoids were also identified. Identifications of teleosts were based primarily on otoliths, teeth, jaws, vertebrae and some isolated diagnostic bones. TABLE 1. List of non-fish vertebrates from the late Pleistocene Palos Verdes Sand Formation at Costa Mesa, Orange County, California. REPTTLIA Clemmys marmorata AVES Gavia sp. Uria aalge Diomedea sp. Puffinus sp. MAMMALIA Lagomorpha indet. Enhydra lutris Eumetopias jubatus Zalophus californianus Equus sp. Camelops hesternus camel Bison sp. Western pond turtle Loon Common murre Albatross Shearwater Rabbit Sea otter Steller sea lion California sea lion Horse Extinct Bison elasmobranchs Mustelus californicus, M. henlei, Carcharhinus brachyurus, Rhinobatos productus, and Platyrhinoidis triseriata are currently found in waters off southern California, but have no fossil record. The teleosts Sardinops sagax and Sebastes helvomaculatus, live today in waters off California, but also have no known fossil record. Of the remaining fish species, 19 are first records from the southern exposures of the Palos Verdes Sand. In agreement with Fitch (1970), the overall assemblage seems to suggest a relatively shallow (less than 30 m deep) depositional environment. The fossil fauna does not differ greatly from the current ichthyofauna presently found off southern California (Allen, 1985, Allen and Herbinson, 1991). However, the presence of Carcharhinus brachyurus, Rhizoprionodon longurio and Calamus brachysomus indicates that this locality may represent either a period of relatively warmer marine temperatures than presently exists in the area, or that some fishes were brought north from southern waters by periodic warm-water currents (Radovich, 1961; Long, 1992). ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank M. A. Roeder and R. W. Huddleston for assistance in identification of some of the teleosts, and for discussion on this project; J. T. Sankey and M. R. Rieder for field assistance; and the California Department of Transportation and the Yeager Construction Company for access to the site. REFERENCES Allen, L. G. 1985. A habitat analysis of the nearshore marine fishes from southern California. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 84(3):133- 155. Allen, M. J. and K. T. Herbinson. 1991. Beam trawl survey of bay and nearshore fishes of the soft-bottom habitat of southern California in 1989. CalCOFI Report, 32:112- 127. DISCUSSION Of the 41 taxa of marine fishes collected from this locality (Appendix 1), six taxa are the first fossil records of extant species. The Arnold, R. 1903. The paleontology and stratigraphy of the marine Pliocene and Pleistocene of San Pedro, California. Memoirs of the California Academy of Sciences 3:1- 420. Long New Records of Pleistocene Marine Fishes Page 11 Barrie, D. S., G. L. Kennedy, and J. F. Wehmiller. 1991. Neotectonic uplift and ages of Pleistocene marine terraces, San Joaquin Hills, Southern Los Angeles Basin, California. Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs, Annual Meeting, San Diego Oct. 21-24. Abstract No. 11465, p. A458. Eschmeyer, W. N., E. S. Herald, and H. Hammann. 1983. A field guide to Pacific coast fishes of North America. The Peterson Field Guide Series No. 28. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 336p. Fitch, J. E. 1964. The fish fauna of the Playa Del Rey locality, a southern California marine Pleistocene deposit. Contributions in Science, Los Angeles County Museum 82:1-35. Fitch, J. E. 1966. Additional fish remains, mostly otoliths, from a Pleistocene deposit at Playa Del Rey, California. Contributions in Science, Los Angeles County Museum 119:1-16. Fitch, J. E. 1967. The marine fish fauna, based primarily on otoliths, of a lower Pleistocene deposit at San Pedro, California (LACMIP 332, San Pedro Sand). Contributions in Science, Los Angeles County Museum 128:1-23. Fitch, J. E. 1968. Otoliths and other fish remains from the Timms Point Silt (early Pleistocene) at San Pedro, California. Contributions in Science, Los Angeles County Museum 146:1-29. Fitch, J. E. 1970. Fish remains, mostly otoliths and teeth, from the Palos Verdes Sand (late Pleistocene) of California. Contributions in Science, Los Angeles County Museum 199:1-41. Kanakoff, G. P. 1956. Fish records from the Pleistocene of southern California in the collections of the Los Angeles County Museum. Bulletin of the Southern California Academy of Sciences 55:47-49. Long, D.J. 1992. Paleoecology of Eocene Antarctic sharks. Antarctic Research Series 56:131-139. Mount J. D. 1981. Check list of late Pleistocene macrofossils from Costa Mesa, Orange County, California. Bulletin of the Southern California Paleontological Society 1 13(l&2):2-5. Radovich, J. 1961. Relationships of some marine organisms of the northeast Pacific to water temperatures, particularly during 1957 through 1959. Fish Bulletin 122:1-62. Page 12 New Records of Pleistocene Marine Fishes Long APPENDIX 1. List of fishes collected from the late Pleistocene Palos Verdes Sand Formation at Costa Mesa, Orange County, California. Common and scientific names follow Eschmeyer et al. (1983). Species Common Name Otolith Tooth Vertebrae Other ELASMOBRANCHS HETERODONTIDAE Heterodontus francisci SQUATINIDAE Squatina californica* ALOPIIDAE Alopias vulpinus* LAMNIDAE Carcharodon carcharias Isurus oxyrhinchus TRIAKIDIDAE Mustelus californicus** Mustelus henlei** Triakis setnifasciata CARCHARHINIDAE Galeorhinus galeus Carcharhinus brachyurus* Carcharhinus sp. Rhizoprionodon longurio* RHINOBATIDIDAE Rhinobatos productus** PLATYRHINIDAE Platyrhinoidis triseriata* RAJIDAE Raja sp.* UROLOPHIDAE Urolophus halleri MYLIOBATIDIDAE Myliobatis californica TELEOSTS CLUPEIDAE Sardinops sagax** ENGRAULIDIDAE Engraulis mordax* GADIDAE Microgadus proximus* MERLUCCIIDAE Merluccius productus* OTOPHIDIIDAE Chilara taylori Ophidion scrippsae BATRACHOIDIDAE Porichthys notatus* ATHERINIDAE Atherinopsis californiensis* Horn shark Pacific angel shark Thresher shark White shark Mako shark Gray smoothhound Brown smoothhound Leopard shark Soupfin shark Narrowtooth shark Sharpnose shark Shovelnose guitarfish Thornback guitarfish Skate Round stingray Bat ray Pacific sardine Northern anchovy Pacific tomcod Pacific hake Spotted cusk eel Baksetweave cusk eel Plainfin midshipman Jacksmelt 1 1 2 1 7 2 3 19 6 2 1 1 2 7 11 1 6 2 164 3 9 2 12 41 l1 302 Long New Records of Pleistocene Marine Fishes Page 13 Appendix 1 continued. Species_____________ CornmonName Otolith Tooth Vertebrae Other SCORPAENIDAE Sebastes diploproa* Sebastes helvomaculatus** Sebastes jordani* Sebastes sp. HEXAGRAMMIDAE Ophiodon elongatus* COTTIDAE Leptocottus armatus SPARIDAE Calamus brachysomus* SCIAENIDAE Atractoscion nobilis Genyonemus lineatus Umbrina roncador* Seriphus politus EMBIOTOCIDAE Damalichthys vacca Cymatogaster aggregata SPHYRAENIDAE Sphyraena argentea* - LABRIDAE Semicossyphus pulcher GOBIIDAE Lepidogobius lepidus* PLEURONECTIDAE Paralichthys californicus* Splitnose rockfish Rosethorn rockfish Shortbelly rockfish Lingcod Staghorn sculpin Pacific porgy White seabass White croaker Yellowfin croaker Queenfish Pile surfperch Shiner surfperch California barricuda Sheephead Bay goby California halibut 1 1 4 13 l4 2 116 8 41 13 1 2 20 * * First fossil record * Southern occurrence for the Palos Verdes Sand Formation 1 Dermal denticles 2 Caudal spine 3 Jaw 4 Opercular spine