||Plec*to"gna*thi (?), n. pl. [NL., from Gr. &?; twisted (fr. &?; to plait, twist) + &?; jaw.] (Zoöl.) An order of fishes generally having the maxillary bone united with the premaxillary, and the articular united with the dentary.

&fist; The upper jaw is immovably joined to the skull; the ventral fins are rudimentary or wanting; and the body is covered with bony plates, spines, or small rough ossicles, like shagreen. The order includes the diodons, filefishes, globefishes, and trunkfishes.