asterolepidæ

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. A family of extinct and very curious fishes from the Devonian formations of Great Britain, Germany, and Canada, of which Pterichthys, Asterolepis, and Bothriolepis are the best-known genera. In Pterichthys the head and trunk are heavily plated, the former being articulated to the latter and having a movable plate between the orbits; the tail is scaly and bears a single dorsal fin and a heterocercal caudal flu; and a pair of lateral placed appendages is jointed to the anterior part of the trunk. These were articulated near the middle and were probably used in crawling over muddy bottoms.