14. Ceratotrichia, noun. Long, flexible, fibrous rods that support the fins of sharks and other fish whose skeletons are made of cartilage. From Greek keratos, “horn,” + trikhia, “rope”—though formed of collagen, rather than the bone and keratin that make up true horns. Densely packed and neatly aligned, like threads on a loom, ceratotrichia are also known as “fin rays” or “fin needles.” When heated, they break down into elastic, gelatinous filaments that form the prized ingredient in shark’s fin soup: an East Asian delicacy the enjoyment of which has had a devastating effect on the world’s shark populations.

We walk back from the grocery store in the winter sun that shines like a bell. You carry carrots, celery, onions. I carry chicken. We are on our way to warmth and good smells. The fin thrusts suddenly up from a little red car in the snow, and I stop. A dream of deep water, and darkness, and movement, occurs. It lasts only a few seconds.

Everything is in that shape. What shores us up, what brings us down.

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