prosobranch, n. (a.) Zool.
(ˈprɒsəʊbræŋk)
[f. mod.L. Prosōbranchia, neut. pl., f. Gr. πρόσω forwards + βράγχια gills.]
A prosobranchiate gastropod: see next. b. adj. = next.
| 1851 Woodward Mollusca i. 50 The sexes are distinct in the most highly organized (or diœcious) mollusca:..the prosobranchs pair. 1861 Carpenter in Smithsonian Rep. 171 In the Prosobranchs, the breathing cavity is at the back of the head. 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. Anim. viii. 511 No Prosobranch is..symmetrical. 1887 Amer. Naturalist XXI. 557 A Contribution to the Embryology of the Prosobranch Gasteropods. |
Hence ˈprosoˌbranchism, the condition of being prosobranchiate.