The Galaxiidae is a Southern Hemisphere family of freshwater fish, considered to be of Gondwanan origin based on the current distribution of species in New Zealand, Australia (including Tasmania), New Caledonia, Africa, South America, and on some associated and subantarctic islands. The fossil record of galaxiids is extremely sparse and geographically restricted. The only galaxiid fossils currently known come from several Miocene lakes in southern New Zealand. They include more than 100 articulated fishes, some remarkably preserving soft parts such as eyes and skin, skulls and jaw components, and more than 200 isolated otoliths. Common coprolites and in situ preserved gut content at one site (Foulden Maar) indicate the different diets of larvae and adult fish. These discoveries reveal a diverse Galaxias fauna, the presence of lake-locked populations, ontogenetic diet shifts, and representatives of several non-migratory Galaxias lineages associated with inland streams and lakes. There are at least six Galaxias species based on macrofossils and six separate otolith-based species from varied volcanic and regional lacustrine environments. This diversity points to southern New Zealand as a centre of biodiversity and speciation in Galaxiidae in the early to late Miocene.

中文翻译：

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南半球的星状化石（Galaxiidae）化石综述

Galaxiidae是一个南半球淡水鱼科，根据目前在新西兰，澳大利亚（包括塔斯马尼亚州），新喀里多尼亚，非洲，南美以及一些与之相关的和亚南极岛屿上的物种分布，认为该物种属于冈瓦纳人。加拉西西德族的化石记录极为稀少，并且在地理上受到限制。目前已知的唯一的加拉西德化石来自新西兰南部的几个中新世湖。它们包括100多条铰接鱼，其中一些保留了软弱的部分，例如眼睛和皮肤，头骨和下巴，以及200多个孤立的耳石。某一地点（富兰德·马尔）的常见共腐殖质和原位保存的肠道含量表明幼虫和成鱼的饮食不同。这些发现揭示了多样化星河系动物群，湖泊锁存种群的存在，个体发育的饮食变化以及与内陆河流和湖泊相关的几种非迁徙星河系的代表。有至少六个Galaxias基于大化石种类和变化，火山和地区湖泊环境六个独立的基于耳石品种。这种多样性表明，在中新世早期至晚期，新西兰南部是Galaxiidae生物多样性和物种形成的中心。