dexiotropic, a.
(ˌdɛksɪəʊˈtrɒpɪk)
[f. as prec. + -ic: cf. Gr. τροπικός having a turning, inclined.]
Turning or turned to the right: said spec. of those ‘reversed’ Gastropod Molluscs in which the spire turns to the right; opposed to leiotropic.
The terms leiotropic and dexiotropic as used by Ray Lankester refer to the left and right sides of the animal, not of the spectator as is the case with dextral and sinistral. Hence dexiotropic is the opposite of dextral.
| 1883 Ray Lankester in Encycl. Brit. XVI. 661 (Mollusca) In Planorbis, which is dexiotropic (as are a few other genera or exceptional varieties of Anisopleurous Gastropods) instead of being leiotropic, the osphradium is on the left side..the whole series of unilateral organs being reversed. This is..what is found to be the case in all ‘reversed’ Gastropods. |