selachian

English

Alternative forms

• selacian

Etymology

From the (disused) genus name Selache, from Latin selachē, from the plural of Ancient Greek σέλαχος (sélakhos, “shark”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /sɪˈleɪkɪən/

Adjective

selachian (comparative more selachian, superlative most selachian)

1. (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.

2. 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

pertaining to the superorder Selachiformes

• Bulgarian: хрущялен (hruštjalen)
• Portuguese: seláquio (pt), seláceo

Noun

selachian (plural selachians)

1. (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.

Anagrams

• Lachesian, sachaline