oscule
(ˈɒskjuːl)
[ad. L. osculum, dim. of ōs mouth.]
A small mouth or mouth-like aperture or pore; spec. = osculum 3.
false oscule or osculum, a pseudostome of a sponge.
| 1835–6 Todd Cycl. Anat. I. 42 By injecting milk into its gastric cavity [of Rhizostoma], the canals in its arms, and their oscules can be rendered visible. 1846 Dana Zooph. (1848) 645 In other species the polyps are wholly retractile, and leave only a small polyp-pore or oscule, marking their position. 1887 Sollas in Encycl. Brit. XXII. 416/1 While in some sponges the original oscule is lost, in others secondary independent openings, deceptively like oscules, are added. |