Palæont. [mod.L., f. Gr. κεφαλή + ἀσπίς shield, buckler.] A genus of fossil ganoid fishes found in the Old Red Sandstone, having a large buckler-shaped plate attached to the head: also called buckler-heads.
1842. H. Miller, O. R. Sandst., vii. (ed. 2), 161. The Cephalaspis is one of the most curious ichthyolites of the system.
Hence Cephalaspean, Cephalaspidean adjs.
1854. H. Miller, Sch. & Schm., xxiv. (1857), 527. The Cephalaspean genera, too … greatly puzzled me.
1872. W. S. Symonds, Rec. Rocks, vi. 202. The little Cephalaspidean fish.
