acanthodian

[ ak-uhn-thoh-dee-uhn ]

noun

1. any small, spiny-finned, sharklike fish of the extinct order Acanthodii, from the Paleozoic Era.

Word History and Origins

Origin of acanthodian¹

First recorded in 1850–55; from New Latin Acanthodi(i), plural of acanthodius (equivalent to Acanthod(es), a genus name (from Greek akanthṓdēs “prickly, spiny”) + Latin -ius ) + -an; acantho-, -ode ¹

Example Sentences

It has been suggested, however, that Onchus may be one of those Acanthodian fish referred by Agassiz to his Ganoid order, which are so characteristic of the base of the Old Red Sandstone in Forfarshire, although the species of the Old Red are all different from these of the Silurian beds now under consideration.

From Project Gutenberg