Largest bony fish ever lived during the age of dinosaurs

Giant fish that could grow up to 16m long roamed the seas 165 million years ago, new research from the University of Bristol suggests. Giant plankton-eating animals first filled the prehistoric seas more than 160 million years ago but they were wiped out in the same event that killed off the dinosaurs, and then replaced by plankton-eating sharks and whales. The question is: just how big did these giant fishes get?  New work suggests between 12 and16m long. The giant plankton-feeders in today's oceans are among the largest living vertebrate animals alive. The first animal known to occupy this role was a large bony fish called Leedsichthys that lived in the Middle Jurassic, around 165 million years ago. This fish was a pioneer for the ecological niche filled today by mammals (like blue whales) and cartilaginous fish (such as manta rays, basking sharks and whale sharks). However, scientists were unclear just how large this large fish could be - until now.