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Glite Dictionary
Polyodontidae

Polyodontidae

9.9
A family of large freshwater fish with long paddle-shaped snouts
  • noun
  • /ˌpɒliˈɒndɪdeɪ/
  • Specialized
: Polyodontidae
  • The Polyodontidae family includes paddlefishes, which are distinguished by their elongated, paddle-shaped snouts.

Examples

  • Paddlefish (Polyodontidae) are the target of gill net fisheries in several US states, but smaller individuals are also caught as bycatch in those same fisheries as a result of size restrictions (Scholten and Bettoli 2007).

    Academic text (2011)

  • In North America, the Polyodontidae, or paddlefish, can grow up to seven feet in length.

  • Researchers study Polyodontidae to understand their unique adaptations to freshwater environments.

Surface Forms

Polyodontidae singular
Polyodontidaes plural

Morphology

Polyodontidae = Polyodon (opaque) = poly + odont + idae

The family name is built from a taxonomic genus name plus the biological family ending, but the underlying Greek combining form is not transparent to most English learners.

Etymology

Polyodontidae comes from Greek words poly- 'many', odont- 'tooth', and the family ending -idae. So Polyodontidae means 'many-toothed family' and is the name for a family of paddlefishes, which helps you remember these large freshwater fish with long, paddle-shaped snouts.