jawless fish

American  

noun

1. cyclostome.

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jawless fish Scientific  

/ jô′lĭs /

1. Any of various primitive fish of the class Agnatha that lack jaws. Living jawless fish (lampreys and hagfish) have a long, cylindrical body and a cartilaginous skeleton. The numerous extinct species were often heavily armored and are among the earliest vertebrate fossils known. Jawless fish occupy an intermediate evolutionary position between primitive chordates and jawed fish.

2. Also called agnathan

3. See more at cyclostome Compare bony fish cartilaginous fish

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Etymology

Origin of jawless fish

First recorded in 1965–70; jaw ¹ + -less

Example Sentences

The divots were created at a time when animals in the seas were taking on a broad array of new forms, building complex ecosystems from plankton to jawless fish to spaceship-like filter feeders.

From Slate • Oct. 21, 2024

Early jawless fish were likely to have used bony projections surrounding their mouths to modify the mouth's shape while they collected food.

From Science Daily • Apr. 10, 2024

In recent years paleontologists have even connected the Tully Monster to jawless fish such as lampreys, which have a backbonelike structure.

From Scientific American • Apr. 19, 2023

Lampreys are a jawless fish, older than dinosaurs, that look like their distant relative, the eel, according to the state Department of Fish and Wildlife.

From Seattle Times • Mar. 23, 2023

Another paper describes Tujiaaspis vividus, an extinct jawless fish whose name refers to the Tujia people, a minority ethnic group in China.

From Salon • Oct. 1, 2022