cryptobiontn.
/ˌkrɪptə(ʊ)ˈbʌɪɒnt/, U.S. /ˌkrɪptəˈbaɪɑnt/ 1. Ecology. An animal that lives in a concealed or hidden habitat (such as within a cavity). Cf. cryptobiotic adj. 3.
ΚΠ
1953 Amer. Midland Naturalist 50 3 All of these modifications may be seen today in other ant tribes that have produced cryptobionts from an epigaeic stock.
1982 Jrnl. Oceanogr. Soc. Japan 38 193 Massive corals were dominated by both boring and secondary cryptobionts.
2003 Earth-Sci. Rev. 62 15/2 Cryptobiont is a positional term describing organisms colonising hidden surfaces such as concave undersides of bivalve shells or cavities in rocks and reefs.
2. Biology. An organism that is capable of cryptobiosis (cryptobiosis n. 2), or that is in a state of cryptobiosis.
ΚΠ
1987 Ecology 68 1488/1 While anhydrobiosis may extend the life cycle from a few months to some years.., mortality rates are commonly high when the cryptobionts are rehydrated.
1995 Economist 4 Mar. 112/2 One famous cryptobiont, the resurrection plant, is used by Texas cowboys as kindling in its dried state, but when water is added it comes back to life and carries on growing.
2005 Chem. Physics 317 258/1 Trehalose..is found in..tardigrades, Arthemia salina-eggs, and many cryptobionts which pass under dry conditions into a state of suspended life.
This is a new entry (OED Third Edition, June 2011; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
<
n.1953