372 GLOSSARY OF TECHNICAL TERMS. 



Setaceous. Bristly. 



Setiform. Bristle-like. 



Shaft. Stiff axis of a quill. 



Shoulder girdle. The bony girdle posterior to the head, to which the 



anterior limbs are attached (post-temporal ; scapula, and coracoid 



or clavicle). 



Soft dorsal. The posterior part of the dorsal fin in fishes, when com- 

 posed of soft rays. 



Soft rays. Fin-rays which are articulate and usually branched. 

 Spatulate. Shaped like a spatula. 

 Sphenoid. Basal bone of skull. 

 Spine. Any sharp projecting point ; in fishes those fin-rays which are 



unbranched, inarticulate, and usually, but not always, more or less 



stiffened. 



Spinous. Stiff or composed of spines. 

 Spinous dorsal. The anterior part of the dorsal fin when composed of 



spinous rays. 

 Spiracles. Openings in the head or neck of some fishes and Ba- 



trachians. 

 Spurious. Said of the first primary when less than about one-third 



the length of the second. (The student will notice that in Oscines 



the presence of a short or spurious quill indicates ten primaries ; its 



absence, nine.) 



Stellate. Star-like ; with radiating ridges. 

 Sternal fontanelle. A pit at the top of the sternum. 

 Sternum. The breast bone. 

 Striate. Striped or streaked. 



Sub (in composition). Less than; somewhat ; not quite ; under, etc. 

 Sub-caudal. Under the tail. 



Sub-opercle. The bone immediately below the opercle (the suture con- 

 necting the two often hidden by scales). 

 Sub-orbital. Below the eye. 

 Sub-orbital stay. A bone extending from one of the sub-orbital bones 



in certain fishes, across the cheeks, to or towards the preopercle. 

 Subulate. Awl-shaped. 



Suffrage. Heel joint ; joint of tibia and tarsus. 

 Superciliary. Pertaining to the region of the eyebrow. 

 Supplemental maxillary. A small bone lying along upper edge of the 



maxillary. 

 Supraoccipital. The bone at posterior part of skull in fishes, usually 



with a raised crest above. 

 Supra-oral. Above the mouth. 

 Supra-orbital. Above the eye. 

 Supra-scapula. The post-temporal or bone by which the shoulder 



girdle in fishes is joined to the skull. 

 Suspensory bones. Bones by which the lower jaw, in fishes, is fastened 



to the skull. 

 Symphysis. Point of junction of the two parts of lower jaw ; tip of 



chin. 



