Callorhinchidae

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A family of cartilaginous marine fish, the ghost sharks or ratfishes, known for their large eyes and long tapering tails
2. The taxonomic group of deep-sea chimaera-like fishes that belong to the elephant fish and ghost shark lineage
3. Cartilaginous ocean-dwelling fishes forming a zoological family of chimaeras, sometimes called ghost sharks or rabbit fishes

Etymology: Callorhinchidae is the family name for the elephant fishes, a small group of cartilaginous fish related to sharks and rays, and the name is a Latinized formation from Greek. Its root is "kallorhynchos," built from "kallos," meaning beauty, and "rhynchos," meaning snout or beak. The fish's most striking feature is the long, flexible, trunk-like snout that hangs over the mouth, which earned the genus its Greek-derived name. The family name follows the standard zoological pattern. The genus Callorhinchus gave its name to the family, and the "-idae" ending marks a taxonomic family in the Latin system of scientific naming. Because the name is a modern scientific coinage built from classical Greek parts, it was not used by the ancient Greeks themselves.