bowfin

[ boh-fin ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

a carnivorous ganoid fish, Amia calva, found in sluggish fresh waters of eastern North America.

bowfin

/ ˈbəʊˌfɪn /

a primitive North American freshwater bony fish, Amia calva , with an elongated body and a very long dorsal fin: family Amiidae

Origin of bowfin¹

An Americanism dating back to 1835–45; bow ² + fin ¹

Such fishes as the garpike and the bowfin have lung-like air-bladders and gulp air from the surface of the water.

In the bowfin (Amia calva), trematodes existed in enormous numbers.

Near relatives of the bowfin flourished in the Mesozoic, among them some with a forked tail, and some with a very long one.

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