selachian

comparative more selachian · superlative most selachian · alternative selacian

1. biologyPertaining 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.

   Fig. 4-10 shows crude apparatus which was used to make rough measurements of the vertical forces produced by selachian tails.

   1981, R. McNeill Alexander, The Chordates, page 104

   1 more example

   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.

   2014, Gene Helfman, George H. Burgess, Sharks: The Animal Answer Guide, page 8

2. Sharklike.

   Leary frowned and then smiled his selachian smile.

   2007, Edward Docx, Pravda, page 258

   1 more example

   These two tours had whetted the colonies' appetite for Royal visits, and by the turn of the century that appetite was positively selachian.

   1963, Walkabout, volume 29, page 12

plural selachians · alternative selacian

1. biologyAny organism of the superorder Selachimorpha or subclass Elasmobranchii; an extant shark (or related species).

   However, some selachians enter freshwater and a few, like the stingray Paratrygon motoro, are even restricted to freshwater.

   1999, William C Hamlett, editor, Sharks, Skates, and Rays: The Biology of Elasmobranch Fishes, page 300