Stratum.black
Knightia eocaena — Knightia eocaena
Knightia eocaena — James St. John, Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0

Fish

Knightia eocaena

Green River herring

Knightia eocaena is the small herring of Eocene Fossil Lake and the most abundant articulated vertebrate fossil in the world; it is Wyoming's state fossil. Single fish on cream limestone are entry-level collectibles, and mortality slabs with dozens of fish are the classic Green River décor piece. Genuine Knightia are inexpensive, so the only concerns are painted-on details and composites of several plates.

PhylumChordata
ClassActinopterygii
OrderClupeiformes
FamilyClupeidae
GroupFish
Sizetypically 5–15 cm
Rank (PBDB)genus· Paleobiology Database
AuthorLongstaff 1933· Paleobiology Database
Accepted name (PBDB)Knightella· Paleobiology Database
Classification (PBDB)Mollusca › Gastropoda › Cerithimorpha › Orthonemidae· Paleobiology Database
Range (PBDB)372–133 Ma· Paleobiology Database
PBDB occurrences11· Paleobiology Database

Restoration and fakes

Outlines and fins are sometimes touched up with black paint; UV reveals it. Ask whether a multi-fish plate is a single natural slab or an inlaid composite.

Photographs

Knightia eocaena — Knightia brasiliensis A. S. Woodward 1939, Cotype (NHMUK PV P 25266)
Knightia brasiliensis A. S. Woodward 1939, Cotype (NHMUK PV P 25266) — © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum (London) Data Portal, CC BY 4.0
Knightia eocaena — Knightia excelsa R.Br., Type (NHMUK BM000552345)
Knightia excelsa R.Br., Type (NHMUK BM000552345) — © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum (London) Data Portal, CC BY 4.0
Knightia eocaena — Knightia excelsa R.Br., Type (NHMUK BM000050969)
Knightia excelsa R.Br., Type (NHMUK BM000050969) — © The Trustees of the Natural History Museum, London, Natural History Museum (London) Data Portal, CC BY 4.0

Age

Formations

Elsewhere

Cite this article

Stratum Study. "Knightia eocaena" (Taxon). Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19. https://stratum.black/study/taxa/knightia-eocaena. Accessed 2026-09-20.

BibTeX · CSL-JSON

@misc{stratum-knightia-eocaena,
  title        = {Knightia eocaena},
  author       = {{Stratum Study}},
  howpublished = {\url{https://stratum.black/study/taxa/knightia-eocaena}},
  year         = {2026},
  note         = {Taxon article, Stratum Study pack 2026.09, as of 2026-09-19; sources: stratum, pbdb, wikidata, commons, nhm. Accessed 2026-09-20.}
}

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