Cretaceous marine Teleostei from the basal Kanguk Formation, Banks Island, Northwest Territories

A marine teleostean assemblage, from within 2 m of the base of the Upper Cretaceous Kanguk Formation on Banks Island, is dominated by scales of Osmeroides? transversus and Ichthyodectes ctenodon, as well as bones of a primitive teleost tentatively referred to the salmoniforms. The fish indicate a shallow, calm paleoenvironment. Possible mechanisms of deposition include aerobic flotation decay, scale loss by living fish, and deposition of carnivore feces. The assemblage indicates a Cenomanian or Turonian age for the basal Kanguk, with an Early Turonian age preferred by correlation with the late Early Turonian fishes of Lac des Bois, Northwest Territories.