‖ Amphioxus Zool.
(æmfɪˈɒksəs)
[mod.L. f. Gr. ἀµϕί on both sides + ὀξύς sharp, i.e. sharpened or tapering at both ends.]
A genus of fishes, consisting of a single species, called also the Lancelet, which is placed at the very bottom of the series, and has even been denied to be a vertebrate animal.
| 1836 Yarrell in Penny Cycl. 1st Supp. 233/1 The Lancelet, Amphioxus lanceolatus. 1847 Carpenter Zool. §585 The most imperfectly formed of all Fish is, probably, the Amphioxus or Lancelet. 1881 Athenæum 15 Jan. 98/2 We cannot regard Amphioxus as a fish. |