Cladocyclus was a 4 foot long saltwater fish which lived around South America and Australia during the middle Cretaceous Period 110-100 million years ago.
The famous Swiss ichthyologist Louis Agassiz coined the name Cladocyclus in 1841. The name, which means “branching round scale”, was given in reference to the pattern seen on the scales which bore the fish’s lateral line. These scales exhibited branching tubular canals similar to those seen in the extant fish genus Hydrolycus, known as payaras. Like the modern payara, Cladocyclus had an elongated body and long needle-like teeth, and bore a vague resemblance to some of the fish found in the deep ocean today.
Cladocyclus belonged to the fish order Ichthyodectiformes, which included animals like Ichthyodectes, Occithrissops, Gillicus, and Xiphactinus. There are currently two species assigned to the genus Cladocyclus: C. gardneri from Brazil and C. geddesi from Australia. A few others have been named based upon scales, such as C. lewesensis of England, C. strehlensis of Germany, and C. occidentalis of the United States, but these are regarded as nomen dubia because their identity cannot be positively determined. Another species, C. pankowskii of Morocco, was later determined to be a species of the genus Aidachar.
Cladocyclus gardneri. © Jason R. Abdale (September 25, 2025).
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