This week I have another guest Mystery Object for you from regular contributor Joe Vans:
This is a tricky one, and while I think I have a rough idea of the element and Family, I’m still not sure of the species this comes from, so all suggestions are very welcome!
As always, you can drop your ideas, questions and suggestions in the comments below, and Joe may be able to provide some additional information and I may offer some hints as to my thoughts if needed.
Have fun!
Tricky indeed! It looks like osteobase doesn’t cover this particular bit of skeleton.
That was my first port of call, and my first disappointment 😉
These are the shoulder bones of a fish the Japanese pay a fortune for, as long as a cook never touches it
We’re thinking along the same lines!
Paolo is very humble…. I was lost at sea on this one, but he nailed it immediately.
I think I’ve got the element as well but the “lost at sea” comment dug me out from underground… Very tricky!
I wanted to cryout Wahoo! I’ve found it, but no that’s not quite right, however it is part of that spanish tribe.
Given we are getting close to the reveal, I’ll drop the attempt at crypsis. The object in question is a cleithrum and scapula of a scombrid fish. I hinted above that I thought it was a member of the spanish mackerel tribe (Scomberomorini) but I now realise bullet tunas (genus Auxis) also have similar looking cleithra, although I am pretty sure it is not a true Tuna (Thunnus).
Getting real close…. at least in PDT (UTC-07:00) I think it might be a Thunnus, specifically a Pacific Bluefin Tuna (Thunnus orientalis) based on the size of it and being found in Santa Cruz, California. Not many others it could be, I don’t think.
Oh, the one photograph of a tuna cleithrum that I saw did not look AT ALL like this specimen.