ˈnucleobranch Zool.
Also -branche.
[ad. F. nucléobranche: cf. prec. and branchiæ.]
A mollusc of the order Nucleobranchiata; a Heteropod.
Some recent Dicts. also give the form as an adj.
| 1851 Woodward Mollusca i. 11 The nucleobranches and pteropods swim in the open sea. Ibid. 97 The nucleobranches are ‘aberrant’ gasteropods, having the foot thin and vertical. 1861 Carpenter in Rep. Smithsonian Instit. 172 The Nucleobranchs have the gills in a tuft at the lower part of the back, sometimes protected by a shell. |
So nucleoˈbranchiate a. (Cf. branchiate.)
| 1854 Woodward Mollusca ii. 198 There are two families of nucleobranchiate mollusks. |