Cheiracanthus

{{Short description|Extinct genus of cartilaginous fishes}}

{{Automatic taxobox

| fossil_range = Middle Devonian

| image = Cheiracanthus_latus.JPG

| image_caption = Fossil of Cheiracanthus latus at the London Natural History Museum

| taxon = Cheiracanthus

| authority = Agassiz, 1835

| type_species = {{extinct}} Cheiracanthus murchisoni

}}

Cheiracanthus (from {{langx|el|χείρ}} {{transliteration|el|kheír}}, 'hand' and {{langx|el|ἄκανθα}} {{transliteration|el|akantha}}, 'spine'){{cite book |last1=Roberts |first1=George |title=An etymological and explanatory dictionary of the terms and language of geology |date=1839 |publisher=Longman, Orme, Brown, Green, & Longmans |location=London |page=29 |url=https://archive.org/details/anetymologicala00robegoog |access-date=29 December 2021 |language=English}} is an extinct genus of a group of fish called Acanthodii (or "spiny sharks").{{Cite journal|last=Burrow|first=Carole|last2=Blaauwen|first2=Jan den|last3=Newman|first3=Michael|date=2020-04-01|title=A redescription of the three longest-known species of the acanthodian Cheiracanthus from the Middle Devonian of Scotland|url=https://palaeo-electronica.org/content/2020/2989-cheiracanthus-from-scotland|journal=Palaeontologia Electronica|language=English|volume=23|issue=1|pages=1–43|doi=10.26879/1035|issn=1094-8074|doi-access=free}} It was a deep-bodied acanthodian about 12 in. (30 cm) in length. It had a blunt head, upturned tail, and fins protected by spines. Unlike many other acanthodians, it had one, solitary dorsal fin. Cheiracanthus swam at mid-depth in lakes and rivers, seizing small prey in its gaping jaws. Whole fossils of this fish occur only in Mid-Devonian rocks in Scotland, but its distinctive small, ornamented scales crop up around the world, as far south as Antarctica.

File:Cheiracanthus murchisoni life restoration.jpg