Polyp'terus, a genus of Ganoid fishes, of which only one species (P. bichir) is known. It lives in the Nile and western rivers of tropical Africa. It may attain a length of 4 feet, and is esteemed as food. Very characteristic is a series of dorsal spines, with attached finlets, which extend almost the entire length of the back. Of its life very little is known. The only nearly allied living form is Calamoichthys calabarus from Old Calabar.
Polyp'terus
Chambers's Encyclopaedia, Volume 8: Peasant to Eoumelia, p. 302
Source scan(s): p. 0311