The cartilaginous fish is a general designation for those fishes whose skeleton consists of cartilage instead of bone, and which comprise the sharks and skates or rays.
[n] - fishes in which the skeleton may be calcified but not ossified
chondrichthian noun fishes in which the skeleton may be calcified but not ossified
Fish in which the skeleton is made of cartilage. Sharks, rays, and skates are cartilaginous. Their scales are placoid (isolated structures made of dentine resembling simple teeth) and are present all over the body surface. The scales do not continue to grow once fully formed, but are replaced by new scales as they wear out. The notochord (primitive...