nudibranch Zool.
(ˈnjuːdɪbræŋk)
Also -branche.
[ad. F. nudibranche (Cuvier): see nudi- and branchiæ.]
A mollusc of the order Nudibranchiata, having naked gills and no shell.
| 1844 Allman in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist. (1845) XVI. 154 A small Nudibranchiate Gasteropod, which this naturalist [M. de Quatrefages] conceives himself justified in separating..from all previously characterized genera of Nudibranchs. 1851 Woodward Mollusca i. 36 The rudimentary shell of the nudibranchs is shed at an early age. 1862 Kearley Links in Chain vi. 136 One beautiful little Nudibranch common on our northern coasts. |
b. attrib. or as adj. = nudibranchiate.
| 1871 Darwin Desc. Man ii. ix. I. 32 Many of the nudibranch mollusca, or sea-slugs, are as brightly coloured as any shells. 1896 tr. Boas' Text-Bk. Zool. 303 The nudibranch larva is furnished with shell and operculum. |
So nudiˈbranchial a.; nudiˈbranchian.
| 1839 Penny Cycl. XIV. 322/1 The third class, Gastropods, are divided into the following orders and suborders:—1. Nudibranchians. 1841 Proc. Berw. Nat. Club I. No. 9. 249 The naked nudibranchial mollusk alluded to. |