A New Species of Mackerel (Scomber, Scombroidei) from the Tarkhanian (Lowermost Middle Miocene) of the Northwestern Caucasus

A fossil mackerel Scomber collettei sp. nov. (Percomorpha, Scombroidei, Scombridae) is described from the Tarkhanian (lowermost Middle Miocene) of the northwestern Caucasus (Krasnodar Region, Pshekha River) based on several skeletons. This is the first discovery of a fossil representative of the genus Scomber in the Tarkhanian regional stage. The new species differs from the more ancient, late Oligocene to early Miocene mackerels from the Eastern Paratethys—S. cubanicus and S. gnarus—in having a different ratio of the abdominal and caudal vertebrae (14 + 17 vs. 15 + 16), and wider separated dorsal fins. S. collettei sp. nov. is also characterized by its unusually large teeth and lachrymal.