a. and sb. Ichth. [f. mod.L. teleosteus (f. Gr. τέλεος, -ειος, finished, complete, TELEO-1 + ὀστέ-ον bone) + -AN.] a. adj. Belonging to or characteristic of the order Teleostei (Joh. Müller, 1844) or osseous fishes, having the skeleton (usually) completely ossified. b. sb. A fish of this order.
1858. Huxley, in Q. Jrnl. Geol. Soc., XIV. I. 6 Jan., 279. As to the rudimentary state of ossification of the vertebral column, there are Teleostean fishes (e. g. Helmichthys) quite as imperfect in this respect as any Ganoid.
1859. Darwin, Orig. Species, ix. 305. Some palæontologists believe that certain much older fishes are really teleostean. Ibid. (1872), x. (ed. 6), 285. If the teleosteans had really appeared suddenly … at the commencement of the chalk formation.
1888. Rolleston & Jackson, Anim. Life, 90. The Perch…. Its skeleton is typically Teleostean. Ibid., 429.
So Teleost sb. and a., also teliost (= F. téléoste), Teleosteous a. = TELEOSTEAN.
1862. Dana, Man. Geol., iii. 278, note. The skeleton is bony, as the name Teliost … implies.
1880. Günther, Fishes, i. 22. The organisation of the Teleosteous fishes.
1891. Cent. Dict., 6216. (figure) Skull of Pike (Esox lucius), a teleost fish.
