soft rayed (softrad)

In ichth., malacopterygian; soft-finned: said of a fish or its fins. IMG:content-1472.png:[blocks in formation] soft-shell (soft's hel), a. Same as soft -shelled. soft-shelled (soft's held), a. Having a soft shell or carapace. - Soft-shelled clam, the common soft clam, Mya arenaria, or the gaper, M. truncata; any soft clam. See cuts under Mya and Myidæ. - Soft shelled crab, the common edible crab of the United States, Call i nec tes has tatus, when it has molted its hard shell and not yet grown another, so that it is covered only cacy. The molt occurs from late in the spring throughout most of the summer. The term is extended to other edible crabs. A crab in the act of casting its shell is termed with a flexible skin. In this state it is accounted a shedder, buster; when the new shell begins to harden, a crackler. See cut under paddle - crab. Soft shelled tortoises or turtles, tortoises or turtles of the family Trionychidæ, and others whose carapace is somewhat flexible; leatherbacks or leather-turtles. Also soft tortoises or turtles. See cuts under Aspidonectes, leatherback, and Trionyx. soft-sized (soft'sīzd), a. See sized2. soft-skinned (soft's kind), a. Having a soft skin; specifically, in zoöl., mala cod erm a to us. soft-soap (soft'sōp'), v. t. [