A sampling of otoliths in the Lower Aptian sediments of the Maestrazgo provided otoliths of 18 teleost taxa of which 11 could be described as new species: Elops bultyncki, «genus Elopidarum» casanovae. «genus Albulidarum» atavus, Pterothrissus todolellanus, «genus Euteleosteorum» geometricus, «genus Protacanthopterygiorum» scalpellum, «genus Argentinidarum» bergantinus, «genus Aulopiformorum» pseudocentrolophus, «genus Synodontoideorum» pseudosphyraena, «genus Chlorophthalmidarum» manei, «genus Neoscopelidarum» maestrazgonis and «genus? Acanthomorphorum» forcallensis. This is the oldest fauna for which comparative studies of Recent and fossil otoliths still provide results which are worthy of interest. The more one goes back in time, the more morphological resemblance with Recent otoliths becomes obscure. For Aptian material, only identifications at family level or at an even higher taxonomic level are possible, except for some rare cases such as the genera Elops and Pterothrissus, which can be considered as «living fossils». For this reason, the interest of palaeoecological interpretations based on comparisons with the habitat of Recent fishes becomes very restricted if applied to Aptian faunas. The possible palaeoecological interest of analogous morphologies which are probably conditioned by function are mentioned. Finally an overview table is presented, summarising the fossil record of all Lower Cretaceous teleost families, based on data obtained from both otoliths and osteological material
