halosaurus
(ˌhæləʊˈsɔːrəs)
[mod.L. (see quot. 1863); see halosaurian.]
A deep-water marine fish of the genus so called, characterized by an elongated body and long tapering tail. Hence ˈhalosaur, a member of the family Halosauridæ, which includes both fossil and living fishes; ˌhaloˈsauroid a., of, pertaining to, or resembling a fish of this kind; also as n.
| [1863 J. Y. Johnson in Proc. Zool. Soc. 406 Halosaurus, gen. nov. Body elongated, clothed with cycloid scales;..tail compressed and tapering to a point.] 1893 Funk's Stand. Dict., Halosauroid, a. & n. 1897 Proc. Zool. Soc. 268 On Echidnocephalus, a Halosauroid Fish from the Upper Cretaceous Formation of Westphalia... Thanks to..new specimens of Halosaurus obtained by the ‘Challenger’ Expedition, it is now possible to demonstrate that..the strange Halosauroid type was already completely developed before the end of the Cretaceous period. 1904 G. A. Boulenger in Cambr. Nat. Hist. VII. xxii. 622 The conformation of the pectoral arch has much in common with that of the Halosaurs. Ibid. 624 In Halosaurus the scales of the lateral line..are scarcely enlarged. 1957 R. Campbell Portugal iv. 68 In the depth of Set{uacu}bal they were visited by many weird monsters,..notably, the halosaurus with a long undulating tail. 1963 New Scientist 10 Jan. 80 The deeper-living benthic fishes, those that live at depths beyond 2,000 metres, are..halosaurs (Halosauridae). 1971 Nature 2 Apr. 279/1 They include the halosaurs, which are known to develop from leptocephalus larvae, and the spiny eels or notacanths. |