ascidian, a. and n. Zool.
(əˈsɪdɪən)
[f. mod.L. Ascidia (see Ascidium) + -an.]
A. adj. Of or pertaining to the Ascidia (or Ascidiæ), a group of animals belonging to the tunicate Mollusca, considered by evolutionists to constitute a link in the development of the Vertebrata. B. n. A member of this group. ‖ ascidiarium (əˌsɪdɪˈɛərɪəm) [see -arium], the aggregate mass of organisms in compound ascidians. aˈscidioid a., resembling the Ascidia. ascidiozooid (əˌsɪdɪəʊˈzəʊɔɪd), one of the organisms forming an ascidiarium.
| 1856 Woodward Man. Mollusca iii. 332 The relation between the ascidian test and mantle is that of the epidermis and the cutis vera. 1835 Kirby Hab. & Inst. Anim. I. vi. 192 The Tunicaries or Ascidians as some call them. 1874 Helps Soc. Press. ix. 136 If he started as a gelatinous ascidian, how he has got on in the world! 1878 N. Amer. Rev. CXXVII. 58 Our ascidian forefathers. 1877 Huxley Anat. Inv. An. x. 610 In the compound or social Tunicata many ascidiozooids..are united by a common test into an ascidiarium. 1880 Syd. Soc. Lex. s.v. Ascidia, The tunicate or ascidioid Division of the Mollusca. |