Pronunciation: Goo-loo-gong-ee-a loo-ms-i Translation:"Loomes' Gooloogong" - named after Bruce Loomes, the foreman of the 1993 excavation of the Canowindra site, and the town of Gooloogong, NSW. Period: Late Devonian (360 million years ago)
Description: Large carnivorous lobe-finned fish
Class - Osteichthyes ('bony fish') Subclass - Sarcopterygii ('fleshy-fins') Superorder - Crossopterygii (lobe-finned fishes) Family - Rhizodontidae ("rooted-tooth") Genus - Gooloogongia Species - Gooloogongia loomesi
Length - 90 cm
Gooloogongia is the fourth species of lobe-finned fish described from the Canowindra site. It was named by Dr Zerina Johanson and Dr Per Ahlberg in 1998. It is rare at Canowindra, being known from only 3 specimens, and is an early member of the rhizodont family. Rhizodonts take their name from the strongly rooted teeth in the jaw, and some members were huge predators reaching over 6 metres in length. Gooloogongia is the most complete rhizodont yet to be found anywhere in the world. In general size and shape Gooloogongia is similar to the modern, and completely unrelated, saratoga which lives in the tropical rivers of northern Australia. Saratoga can be aggressive feeders, and take a broad diet of fish, insects, and other animals. Whether Gooloogongia had a similarly broad diet is unknown. Like other lobe-finned fishes, Gooloogongia had two rows of teeth in the jaw; an outer row of small teeth, and an inner row of larger fangs. The fangs of Gooloogongia are sharp and needle-like, but they were probably not strong enough to penetrate the armour plating of the small placoderms that also lived in the Canowindra fish community.
