selachian

adj

1. 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.

   “Fig. 4-10 shows crude apparatus which was used to make rough measurements of the vertical forces produced by selachian tails.”

   “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.

   “These two tours had whetted the colonies' appetite for Royal visits, and by the turn of the century that appetite was positively selachian.”

   “Leary frowned and then smiled his selachian smile.”

noun

1. Any organism of the superorder Selachimorpha or subclass Elasmobranchii; an extant shark (or related species).

   “However, some selachians enter freshwater and a few, like the stingray Paratrygon motoro, are even restricted to freshwater.”