Blochius

Blochius is an extinct genus of billfish from the Eocene. It is only known from the Monte Bolca deposits in Italy, and was likely restricted to shallow, tropical waters of the Tethys Ocean.

== Discovery == The existence of Blochius was known as early as 1709, where it is mentioned in a written account by Johann Jakob Scheuchzer, who identified a fragment of a Blochius skeleton and identified it as being either related to the Xiphias (swordfish) or Siluro (catfish). It was not until the advent of Linnean taxonomy that it properly received a scientific name by Giovanni Serafino Volta, who named Blochius in 1796 after pioneering ichthyologist Marcus Elieser Bloch.