ascidian

Thân thiện

A tiny ascidian filters water on a sunlit coral reef.

Definition

Noun: 1. A type of marine animal: An ascidian is a small, non-moving sea creature. It has a soft, bag-like body. It feeds by drawing water in through one tube (siphon) and releasing it through another.

Usage

• As a subject:
• As an object:
• With modifiers:

Advanced Usage

• In scientific taxonomy, "ascidian" refers specifically to any member of the class Ascidiacea within the subphylum Tunicata (or Urochordata).
  • The research focused on the developmental biology of the ascidian embryo.

Variants and Related Words

• Tunicate (n): Another, more general scientific name for ascidians and their relatives, referring to their tough outer "tunic."
  • Sea squirts are a well-known type of tunicate.

Synonyms

• Sea squirt (n): A common name for many ascidians, derived from their habit of squirting water when disturbed.

Related Phrases / Terms

• Ascidian tadpole (n): The free-swimming larval stage of an ascidian, which has a primitive spinal cord, highlighting its relation to vertebrates.
  • The ascidian tadpole undergoes metamorphosis to become a sedentary adult.

Học thuật

Noun

1. minute sedentary marine invertebrate having a saclike body with siphons through which water enters and leaves