How to Use bony fish in a Sentence

bony fish

noun
  • Not all fish have bones — sharks have skeletons made of cartilage — and only bony fish form fish rings.
    — The Arizona Republic, 19 Feb. 2024
  • This may explain why bony fish genomes have evolved more rapidly than those of their terrestrial cousins.
    — Bob Holmes, Discover Magazine, 21 May 2018
  • Maybe the tetrapods, sharks and bony fish would have outcompeted their rivals anyway.
    — Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 23 Jan. 2021
  • Sharks have more in common with human reproduction than that of bony fish, such as goldfish.
    — Kathleen Christiansen, orlandosentinel.com, 9 July 2021
  • Most birds have this ability, along with honeybees, reptiles and certain bony fish.
    — Lauren Leffer, Scientific American, 23 Jan. 2024
  • In the water, sharks, dolphins, rays and certain bony fish have electroreception.
    — Allison Futterman, Discover Magazine, 12 Oct. 2023
  • It is considered the longest bony fish in the world by Guinness World Records.
    — James Powel, USA TODAY, 21 July 2023
  • Perhaps ancestral fishes that could evolve into the bony fishes.
    — Byerik Stokstad, science.org, 31 July 2024
  • Meanwhile, the surviving types of fish, such as sharks and bony fish, began to proliferate.
    — Joshua Rapp Learn, Discover Magazine, 2 Dec. 2022
  • For hundreds of years scientists have only been able to guess that sharks probably had some bony fish ancestors.
    — Erin Biba, Scientific American, 1 June 2017
  • Determining a bony fish's age can be easily done by analyzing their otoliths, or ear stones.
    — National Geographic, 11 Aug. 2016
  • And while whales are famous for their songs and sounds, almost 990 species of bony fish have been shown to actively produce sounds.
    — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes, 24 July 2022
  • Despite being the largest bony fish in the world and weighing more than two tons, sunfish are quite elusive, which made the four-year search difficult.
    — Hannah Lang, National Geographic, 20 July 2017
  • In the video, Wheaton, a veterinarian, and his board appear tiny compared to the colossal bony fish.
    — Elizabeth Gamillo, Smithsonian Magazine, 16 Dec. 2021
  • It’s also been documented in snakes, lizards, sharks, rays, and bony fish—both in captivity and more recently in the wild.
    — Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 28 Oct. 2021
  • But in the pit, the majority of specimens were roach, a small bony fish that’s difficult to eat without some sort of processing.
    — Bridget Alex, Discover Magazine, 6 May 2020
  • Their diet favors bony fish and smaller sharks (including their fellow bull sharks), as well as turtles, birds, dolphins and crustaceans.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 16 July 2023
  • Unlike the typical scales found on bony fishes, which are thin and overlapping, dermal denticles are hard and tooth-like in structure.
    — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes, 17 July 2023
  • As with most bony fishes, elasmobranchs (sharks and their relatives) are known to host numerous ecto- and endoparasite species.
    — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes, 4 May 2023
  • Otoliths are the hard structures located behind the brain of bony fishes, according to the FWC.
    — Alaa Elassar, CNN, 12 Jan. 2020
  • The shape of its jaw indicates a short head designed for a formidable bite, ideal for hunting smaller sharks, bony fish, and squid-like orthocones.
    — Melissa Cristina Márquez, Forbes, 10 Feb. 2024
  • Mermen, unicorns and the hoodwinker The hoodwinker is one of five different species of sunfish, which include the world’s heaviest bony fish.
    — Grace Hauck, USA TODAY, 22 Feb. 2020
  • To get your allotted amount, incorporate calcium-rich foods like fatty and bony fish, leafy green vegetables, tofu and milk into your diet.
    — Helen Carefoot, Flow Space, 26 Feb. 2026
  • More than 90 percent of all fish are bony fish; the category excludes rays, sharks and other marine wildlife with cartilaginous skeletons.
    — Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 19 Oct. 2022
  • Scientists have known for years about bony fish, sharks, worms, jellies, corals, and other marine creatures that light up to attract mates, lure prey, or discombobulate predators.
    — Katherine J. Wu, The Atlantic, 24 Aug. 2021
  • Studies have revealed the velella eat zooplankton, fish eggs and krill, while ocean sunfish called mola mola, one of the ocean's largest bony fish, have been seen feasting on large flotillas of velella at sea.
    — Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 6 May 2026
  • More than 30 years of excavations have unearthed thousands of vertebrate fossils such as herbivorous dinosaurs and bony fish.
    — Kristen Rogers, CNN, 27 May 2020
  • In Nussbaum’s view, all mammals fall within this category; so too do bony fish and birds; insects can go either way; corals, jellyfish, and sponges don’t qualify.
    — Sasha Frere-Jones, Harper’s Magazine , 9 Nov. 2022
  • In Nussbaum’s view, all mammals fall within this category; so too do bony fish and birds; insects can go either way; corals, jellyfish, and sponges don’t qualify.
    — Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 21 Dec. 2022
  • Also found at the site were some bony fish scales and teeth and incomplete plesiosaurian teeth, indicating a humid climate and complex ecosystem, according to the paper.
    — Julia Jacobo, ABC News, 2 Sep. 2025

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'bony fish.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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