mystacocete Zool.
(ˈmɪstəkəʊsiːt)
[ad. mod.L. Mystacocēt-us, f. Gr. µυστακ(ο)-, µύσταξ upper lip, moustache + κῆτος whale. (App. formed as a correction of the unmeaning mysticētus mysticete1.)]
A cetacean of the sub-order Mystacoceti or whale-bone whales (opposed to Odontoceti).
| 1883 W. H. Flower in Encycl. Brit. XV. 393/1 The Mystacocetes appear at first sight to be the most specialized and aberrant of the existing Cetacea. |