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{{Short description|Extinct genus of ray-finned fishes}}
{{italic title}}
{{Speciesbox
| image = Cooyoo_australis_23.jpg
| fossil_range = {{fossil range|106.2|100.5|Late [[Albian]]}}
| image_caption = Reconstruction according to specimen "Wandah"
| taxon = Cooyoo australis
| parent_authority = [[Alan Bartholomai|Bartholomai]] & Lees,<ref name=Bart-Lees>{{Cite journal
  | last = Bartholomai
  |author2=Lees
  | title = Cretaceous actinopterygian (Class Pisces) Cooyoo australis from Queensland
  | journal = Memoirs of the Queensland Museum
  | year = 1987}}</ref> 1987
| authority = ([[Arthur Smith Woodward|Woodward]], 1894)
| synonyms = *†''Portheus australis'' <small>Woodward, 1894</small>
*†''[[Xiphactinus]] australis'' <small>(Woodward, 1894)</small>
}}

'''''Cooyoo''''' ("fish" in the [[Yirandhali language]]) is an extinct genus of [[ichthyodectid]] [[ray-finned fish]] known from the [[Lower Cretaceous]]. It contains a single species, '''''C. australis''''', known from the [[Albian]]-aged [[Toolebuc Formation|Toolebuc]] and [[Allaru Formation|Allaru]] Formations of [[Queensland]], [[Australia]].<ref name=Bart-Lees/> ''C. australis'' was originally named by [[Arthur Smith Woodward]] as a species of ''Portheus'' (now a probable synonym of ''[[Xiphactinus]]'') in 1894, which was later amended to ''Xiphactinus''.<ref name="Bart-Lees" />

Some phylogenetic studies have recovered it as an indeterminate [[Ichthyodectiformes|ichthyodectiform]], but later ones have found it to either be a sister of ''[[Unamichthys]]'', or more recently a true ichthyodectid related to ''[[Ichthyodectes]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cavin |first=Lionel |last2=Forey |first2=Peter L. |last3=Giersch |first3=Samuel |date=2013 |title=Osteology of Eubiodectes libanicus (Pictet & Humbert, ) and some other ichthyodectiformes (Teleostei): phylogenetic implications |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14772019.2012.691559 |journal=Journal of Systematic Palaeontology |language=en |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=115–177 |doi=10.1080/14772019.2012.691559 |issn=1477-2019|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Yabumoto |first=Yoshitaka |last2=Hirose |first2=Koji |last3=Brito |first3=Paulo M. |date=2020-03-15 |title=A new ichthyodectiform fish, Amakusaichthys goshouraensis gen. et sp. nov. from the Upper Cretaceous (Santonian) Himenoura Group in Goshoura, Amakusa, Kumamoto, Japan |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/08912963.2018.1497022 |journal=Historical Biology |language=en |volume=32 |issue=3 |pages=362–375 |doi=10.1080/08912963.2018.1497022 |issn=0891-2963|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Cavin |first=Lionel |last2=Berrell |first2=Rodney W. |date=2019-01-02 |title=Revision of Dugaldia emmilta (Teleostei, Ichthyodectiformes) from the Toolebuc Formation, Albian of Australia, with comments on the jaw mechanics |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/02724634.2019.1576049 |journal=Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology |language=en |volume=39 |issue=1 |pages=e1576049 |doi=10.1080/02724634.2019.1576049 |issn=0272-4634|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{Cite journal |last=Berrell |first=Rodney W. |last2=Boisvert |first2=Catherine |last3=Trinajstic |first3=Kate |last4=Siversson |first4=Mikael |last5=Alvarado-Ortega |first5=Jesús |last6=Cavin |first6=Lionel |last7=Salisbury |first7=Steven W. |last8=Kemp |first8=Anne |date=2020-04-02 |title=A review of Australia’s Mesozoic fishes |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03115518.2019.1701078 |journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology |language=en |volume=44 |issue=2 |pages=286–311 |doi=10.1080/03115518.2019.1701078 |issn=0311-5518|url-access=subscription }}</ref> 

''Cooyoo'' was a dominant predator of the [[Eromanga Sea]].<ref name=":1" /> As with all other ichthyodectids, it was a predator of smaller fish, and had large conical teeth to easily catch them.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Robertson |first=Joshua |date=2015-07-17 |title=100 million-year-old fossils shed new light on Australia’s ancient inland sea |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2015/jul/17/100-million-year-old-fossils-shed-new-light-on-australias-ancient-inland-sea |access-date=2024-06-12 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}</ref> In contrast, ''Cooyoo'' itself was a prey item for larger animals, as a skull has been found with potentially fatal bite marks, which are referable to a [[Polycotylidae|polycotylid]] plesiosaur, an [[Ornithocheiroidea|ornithocheiroid]] pterosaur, or most likely the [[Ichthyosauria|ichthyosaur]] ''[[Platypterygius]]''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wretman |first=Lovisa |last2=Kear |first2=Benjamin P. |date=2014-04-03 |title=Bite marks on an ichthyodectiform fish from Australia: possible evidence of trophic interaction in an Early Cretaceous marine ecosystem |url=http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/03115518.2014.848692 |journal=Alcheringa: An Australasian Journal of Palaeontology |language=en |volume=38 |issue=2 |pages=170–176 |doi=10.1080/03115518.2014.848692 |issn=0311-5518}}</ref>

''Cooyoo'' was initially described from a complete specimen with length about {{convert|1.1|m|ft}},<ref name="Bart-Lees" /> and other fossil remains have been found including near-complete skulls.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite news |date=2015-07-17 |title=Fossils of giant fish unearthed in outback Qld |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-17/ancient-fish-fossils-unearthed-in-outback-qld/6626890 |access-date=2024-06-12 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref> In 2011, a {{convert|2.5|m|ft}} long intact fossil, nicknamed "Wandah", was discovered in north-west [[Queensland]]. According to Rob Levers, [[Kronosaurus Korner museum]] founder and chairman, it was possible to detect the fish in the stomach of that specimen. ''Cooyoo'' is the largest bony fish known from the Eromanga Sea.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Kronosaurus Korner - Fish |url=https://www.kronosauruskorner.com.au/museum/collections/fish |access-date=2023-07-06 |website=www.kronosauruskorner.com.au}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-02-28 |title=Tourists unearth 100 million-year-old marine predator in western Queensland |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-03-01/richmond-cooyoo-australis-fish-fossil-rare-find/102031456 |access-date=2023-03-03 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Ichthyodectiformes}}
{{Taxonbar|from=Q5168130}}

[[Category:Ichthyodectiformes]]
[[Category:Prehistoric ray-finned fish genera]]
[[Category:Early Cretaceous bony fish]]
[[Category:Albian genera]]
[[Category:Cretaceous fish of Australia]]
[[Category:Fossil taxa described in 1987]]


{{Ichthyodectiformes-stub}}