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actinopterygian

actinopterygian noun: any of the ray-finned fish of the taxonomic class Actinopterygii.

Noun

actinopterygian (plural actinopterygians)

  1. Any of the ray-finned fish of the taxonomic class Actinopterygii.
    • […] actinopterygians have 'ray fins' which are supported by a series of narrow cartilaginous or bony rods called radials, while sarcopterygians have 'lobe fins' supported by a single basal bone and with muscles that can modify the posture of the fin.1997, Michael J. Benton, Vertebrate Palaeontology, 2nd edition, Chapman & Hall, →ISBN, page 64
    • The ear of all nonteleostean actinopterygian fishes (Grande and Bemis 1996) does not differ much from that of ratfish (considered by most an ancient line of cartilaginous fish), with the notable exception of the position of the ultricular macula.1999, Bernd Fritzsch, “2: Hearing in Two Worlds”, in Richard R. Fay, Arthur N. Popper, editors, Comparative Hearing: Fish and Amphibians, page 19

Adjective

actinopterygian (comparative more actinopterygian, superlative most actinopterygian)

  1. Of the nature of fish of the class Actinopterygii.
    • Already some years ago it was pointed out that the skeleton of the pelvic fin and girdle of Polypterus is much more actinopterygian than crossopterygian in structure.1908, British Association for the Advancement of Science, Report of the Annual Meeting, volume 77, page 546
    • Still more Actinopterygian is the skeleton of the pelvic fin; here only four bony radials are preserved, separately articulating with the pelvic girdle.1909, Edwin Stephen Goodrich, edited by Ray Lankester, A Treatise on Zoology: Part IX: Vertebrata Craniata: (First Fascicle: Cyclostomes and Fishes), page 296

Antonyms of actinopterygian

Forms of actinopterygian

Noun
pluralactinopterygians
Adjective
comparativemore actinopterygian
superlativemost actinopterygian

Origin of actinopterygian

Actinopterygii + -an

Questions about actinopterygian

What does actinopterygian mean?
Actinopterygian means any of the ray-finned fish of the taxonomic class Actinopterygii.
What part of speech is actinopterygian?
Actinopterygian can be a noun or an adjective.
What is the plural of actinopterygian?
The plural of actinopterygian is actinopterygians.

Words near actinopterygian in the dictionary

  1. actinoporin
  2. actinoporins
  3. actinopt
  4. actinopterian
  5. actinopterians
  6. actinopterygian
  7. actinopterygians
  8. actinopterygiian
  9. actinopts
  10. actinoptygian
  11. actinoptygians

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: actinopterygian (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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