The otolith study reveals the presence of 61 taxa of teleosteans in the Early Miocene Cantaure Formation, among which five are new species: Aplodinotus longecaudata, A. hoffmani, Equetus davidandrewi, Larimus henrici and L. steurbauti. The associations reflect tropical near shore marine environments, with a water depth of less than 50 m. A compilation of all available data (Venezuela, Trinidad. Dominican Republic) shows that the Miocene Caribbean realm was inhabited by a teleost fauna whose overall picture was already very similar to that of the present day fauna of the area. At the generic level this similarity is very strong. However, looking at the species level, probably more than 50% of the Miocene taxa are extinct today. Among the 138 taxa recorded from the Caribbean Miocene, only four do not fit in the present day picture of Middle American biogeography: Diaphus aff. regani, Plotosus, Lactarius and Mene. These taxa reflect ancient circumtropical Tethys distribution patterns
