rhopaloid

English

Adjective

rhopaloid (comparative more rhopaloid, superlative most rhopaloid)

1. (zoology) Having a shaft or tentacle with an uneven diameter.
   • 1961, W. H. Easton, Carboniferous Formations and Faunas of Central Montana, page 30:

     Moreover, septa of Amplexocarinia are not rhopaloid , nor are they long in early stages comparable to early stages of Bradyphyllum .

   • 2002, Palaeontologia Polonica - Issue 61, page 21:

     The septa in the cardinal quadrants are thickened and rhopaloid .

   • 2013, Andrew D. Naumov, Herman Hummel, Alexey A. Sukhotin, Interactions and Adaptation Strategies of Marine Organisms, page 9:

     A new category of heterotrichous microbasic rhopaloid nematocysts was identified in the scyphopolyps.

Noun

rhopaloid (plural rhopaloids)

1. (zoology) A rhopaloid shaft or tentacle.
   • 1967, Australian Journal of Zoology, page 664:

     The principal tentacular nematocysts are homotrichous microbasic rhopaloids, the capsule averaging 25–26μ long by 15–18μ across.

   • 1984, Zoologische Mededeelingen, page 41:

     Stenoteles and euryteles are both rhopaloids, nematocysts characterized by an anisodiametrically dilated shaft.

   • 2020, Fatma El-Bawab, Invertebrate Embryology and Reproduction, page 241:

     The tentacles, either singly or fused, become the four rhopaloids.