Chondrichthyes

a class of the phylum Chordata containing the cartilaginous fish, sharks, rays and chimaeras. In some classifications, the term is synonymous with ELASMOBRANCHII. They are the lowest vertebrates with complete and separate vertebrae, moveable jaws and paired appendages. All are predators and virtually all are marine. They are characterized by the absence of true bone and the presence of CLASPERS (1) in males, and DENTICLES.

Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005

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References in periodicals archive

The Eocene selachian fauna from Antarctica includes 25 species in 16 families (Table 1).

Diversidad de vertebrados marino costeros de la Provincia Weddelliana en un horizonte basal (Ypresiano, Eoceno) del Alomiembro Cucullaea I, Formacion La Meseta, isla Seymour (Marambio), Antartida

In elasmobranchs, these scales are known as placoid scales, or denticles, and in most selachians, a thin layer of mucus lies underneath the denticles to protect the epidermis.

Structure and topographic distribution of oral denticles in elasmobranch fishes

(36.) Case GR and Cappetta H: The Eocene Selachian fauna from the Fayum Depression in Egypt.

Late Eocene sharks of the Hardie Mine local fauna of Wilkinson County, Georgia

Cartilaginous fishes are represented by isolated teeth, indeterminate selachian dermal denticles, thorns and tail spines.

Late Cretaceous continental and marine vertebrate assemblages of the Lano Quarry (Basque-Cantabrian Region, Iberian Peninsula): an update

In western civilization, the knowledge of the elasmobranch or selachian fishes (sharks and rays) begins with Aristotle (384-322 B.C.).

Historical knowledge of sharks: ancient science, earliest American encounters, and American science, fisheries, and utilization

Olson and Welton (1986:49) listed the selachian taxa and otoliths of unidentified sciaenids and bothids.

A new early Miocene species of Pogonias (Teleostei: Sciaenidae) based on Otoliths from California

(ra, co at 688.8-679.7 m), selachian denticles (ra), serpulid worms (ra).

Oligocene benthic foraminifera from the Paleogene Wenonah Canyon, Scotian shelf--normal versus canyon assemblages

Espinosa-Arrubarrena (1979) and Espinosa-Arrubarrena and Applegate (1981) suggested a late Pliocene age for the selachian fauna of locality IGM 92 (Los Algodones) based on the stratigraphic ranges of the shark species, and a similarity between the invertebrate fauna that was collected at Espinosa-Arrubarrena's locality BCS-43 and faunas in the Imperial Formation in California and the San Marcos Formation near Santa Rosalia, Baja California.

A Fossil Blue Marlin (Makaira nigricans Lacepede) from the Middle Fades of the Trinidad Formation (Upper Miocene to Upper Pliocene), San Jose del Cabo Basin, Baja California Sur, Mexico