New ichthyoliths from ferromanganese crusts and nodules from the Central Indian Ocean Basin

Abstract

Ferromanganese encrusted hardgrounds, their intraclasts and the nuclei of manganese nodules collected from the Central Indian Ocean basin have yielded plentiful numbers of ichthyoliths. Forty well-knon ichthyoliths, one new type and 35 new subtypes are encountered. To accommodate these newly recovered ichthyoliths, the coded descriptive system for the taxonomy of ichthyoliths (Doyle and Riedel 1979 and its later modifications) is updated herein. New ichthyoliths are described and illustrated. A majority of them are believed to be of Paleogene age.