selachian
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English[edit]
Alternative forms[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From the (disused) genus name Selache, from Latin selachē, from the plural of Ancient Greek σέλαχος (sélakhos, “shark”).
Pronunciation[edit]
Adjective[edit]
selachian (comparative more selachian, superlative most selachian)
- (zoology) Pertaining to (what is now classified as) the superorder Selachimorpha or division Selachii, comprising the sharks; or, sometimes more broadly, to the subclass Elasmobranchii, including sharks, rays and related species.
- 1981, R. McNeill Alexander, The Chordates, page 104:
- Fig. 4-10 shows crude apparatus which was used to make rough measurements of the vertical forces produced by selachian tails.
- 2014, Gene Helfman, George H. Burgess, Sharks: The Animal Answer Guide, page 8:
- Telling selachian sharks apart from batoid skates and rays is relatively easy (with some exceptions noted below), but telling skates (rajiforms) apart from rays (myliobatiforms) can be more challenging.
- Sharklike.
- 1963, Walkabout, volume 29, page 12:
- These two tours had whetted the colonies' appetite for Royal visits, and by the turn of the century that appetite was positively selachian.
- 2007, Edward Docx, Pravda, page 258:
- Leary frowned and then smiled his selachian smile.
Translations[edit]
pertaining to the superorder Selachiformes
Noun[edit]
selachian (plural selachians)
- (zoology) Any organism of the superorder Selachimorpha or subclass Elasmobranchii; an extant shark (or related species).
- 1999, William C Hamlett, editor, Sharks, Skates, and Rays: The Biology of Elasmobranch Fishes, page 300:
- However, some selachians enter freshwater and a few, like the stingray Paratrygon motoro, are even restricted to freshwater.