poriferann.adj.
/pəˈrɪf(ə)rən/, /pəˈrɪf(ə)rn̩/, U.S. /pəˈrɪf(ə)rən/ Zoology.
A. n.
A member of the phylum Porifera; a sponge.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Parazoa > phylum Porifera > [noun] > member of
sponge1538
spongiary1860
poriferan1864
leuconoid1911
1864 Webster's Amer. Dict. Eng. Lang. Poriferan, an animal of the group comprising the sponges.
1888 G. Rolleston & W. H. Jackson Forms Animal Life (ed. 2) 716 The irregular and continuous growth of a Poriferan.
1961 G. K. Reid Ecol. Inland Waters & Estuaries xii. 230 The poriferan does frequently harbor an assemblage of algae, worms, insects, and crustacea.
2001 Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Pennsylvania) (Nexis) 26 July b3 Sponges are poriferans, the most primitive of the multicellular animals. They have no organs, and no mouths. They take in water through tiny pores in their outer walls and filter out nutrients.
B. adj.
Of, relating to, or belonging to the phylum Porifera.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Parazoa > phylum Porifera > [adjective]
polystomatous1825
polystomous1848
polystome1859
poriferal1877
poriferan1877
leuconoid1894
1877 T. H. Huxley Man. Anat. Invertebrated Animals xii. 678 Comparable to Physemarian or Poriferan embryos.
1890 Cent. Dict. Poriferan theory, that theory which considers the tracheæ or tubes of some animals as having a common origin with the incurrent tubes of the Porifera or sponges.
1968 Jrnl. Invertebr. Pathol. 12 53 Poriferan amebocytes, the archaeocytes, transform into any cell type within the animal when the organism is injured.
1993 E. N. K. Clarkson Invertebr. Palaeontol. & Evol. (ed. 3) iv. 84/1 Solid, calcareous skeletons developed independently within at least two of the main poriferan classes (Demospongea and Calcarea).
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2006; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.adj.1864