monactinaladj.
/mɒˈnaktᵻnl/, U.S. /məˈnæktənəl/ Zoology.
Of a monaxon sponge spicule: having a single ray with two dissimilar ends.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Parazoa > phylum Porifera > [adjective] > relating to a sponge > of parts of sponge > having one ray
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1887 S. O. Ridley in Rep. Sci. Results Voy. H.M.S. Challenger: Zool. XX. Introd. p. vi The chief spicules of the group are ‘monactinal’, that is to say, consisting of only a single ray.
1900 E. A. Minchin in E. R. Lankester Treat. Zool. II. 116 A simple monaxon rod, which may be either diactinal (rhabdus), or monactinal (style).
1940 L. H. Hyman Invertebrates I. vi. 297 When growth has occurred in one direction only, as can be recognized by the dissimilarity of the two ends, the spicule is called a monactinal monaxon, or, for brevity, a style.
1978 P. R. Bergquist Sponges v. 169 An irregular skeleton of smooth monactinal spicules.
1996 Mem. Queensland Mus. 40 1 Morphometric characters of primary importance include..modification of megascleres to monactinal or diactinal forms.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2002; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.1887