noun
bony fishes of the southern hemisphere that breathe by a modified air bladder as well as gills; sometimes classified as an order of Crossopterygii
• Syn: ↑subclass Dipnoi
• Hypernyms: ↑class
• Member Holonyms: ↑Osteichthyes, ↑class Osteichthyes
• Member Meronyms: ↑lungfish, ↑Ceratodontidae, ↑family Ceratodontidae
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\\ˈdipˌnȯi, -pnəˌwī\ noun pluralUsage: capitalized
: an order or other division of Choanichthyes including a number of fossil fishes known from the Devonian and later formations and three surviving genera, Neoceratodus, Protopterus, and Lepidosiren, comprising aberrant fishes that have overlapping cycloid scales and dermal fin rays, a largely cartilaginous skeleton with a persistent notochord, an autostylic skull, paired fins of the archipterygial type, gills covered by an operculum, and in addition a lung or pair of lungs communicating with the ventral side of the esophagus by a short tube
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Dipnoi /dipˈnō-ī/
plural noun
An order of fishes, the lungfishes
ORIGIN: Gr di- double, and pnoē breath
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dipˈnōan adjective and noun
dipˈnōous adjective
Having both lungs and gills
Useful english dictionary. 2012.