What is "holostei"

Holostei \Ho*los"te*i\, n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. "o`los whole + ? a bone.] (Zo["o]l.) An extensive division of ganoids, including the gar pike, bowfin, etc.; the bony ganoids. See Illustration in Appendix.

Holostei are bony fish that retain basal characteristics inherited from an early time in their evolution. There are eight species divided among two orders, the Amiiformes represented by a single living species, the Bowfin (Amia calva), and the Lepisosteiformes, represented by seven living species in two genera, the gars. Further species are to be found in the fossil record and the group is often regarded as paraphyletic. Holosteians are closer to teleosts than are the chondrosteans, the other group intermediate between teleosts and cartilaginous fish. The spiracles are reduced to vestigial remnants and the bones are lightly ossified. The thick ganoid scales of the gars are more primitive than those of the bowfin.