pectoral fin
(in fishes) either of a pair of fins usually situated behind the head, one on each side, and corresponding to the forelimbs of higher vertebrates.
Origin of pectoral fin
1Words Nearby pectoral fin
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use pectoral fin in a sentence
In an ethanol specimen, its pectoral fins look soft and ghostly, whereas the living larva sports flamboyant, spiky and spotted fins.
Dazzling underwater photos capture new views and scientific detail of fish larvae | Devin A. Reese | March 30, 2021 | Science Newspectoral fin on a level with the eye and small; ventral under the center of the pectoral; caudal, slim and forked.
Game Birds and Game Fishes of the Pacific Coast | Harry Thom PayneDr. Traquair thinks that a flap or lappet-like projection behind the head may be a pectoral fin.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2) | David Starr JordanAs to the presence of limbs, no trace of pectoral fin or anterior limb has been found.
A Guide to the Study of Fishes, Volume 1 (of 2) | David Starr JordanThese spines are really enormous dermal fin-rays; the pectoral fin-spine is articulated to the pectoral girdle.
The Vertebrate Skeleton | Sidney H. Reynolds
pectoral fin of an embryo of Scyllium stellare, magnified 16 diameters.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume IV (of 4) | Francis Maitland Balfour
British Dictionary definitions for pectoral fin
either of a pair of fins, situated just behind the head in fishes, that help to control the direction of movement during locomotion
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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