The taxonomy and apparatus structure of the Silurian distomodontid conodont Coryssognathus Link & Druce, 1972

Collections of discrete conodont elements from the Upper Whitcliffe Formation of the Welsh Borderland indicate a septimembrate plan for the feeding apparatus of Coryssognathus, comprising Pa, Pb, Pc, M, Sa/Sb, Sb and Sc elements. Each element is paired, and relative frequencies suggest that there was a total of 16 elements in the apparatus, including two indistinguishable pairs of Sc elements. Associated small coniform elements appear to represent discrete denticles of crown tissue that were sequentially incorporated into multidenticulate elements during ontogeny.