Definition of Larvacea in English:
Larvacea
plural nounlɑːˈveɪʃəlärˈvāSHēə
Zoology A class of minute transparent planktonic animals related to the sea squirts. They have a body that is typically enclosed in a gelatinous ‘house’ that is regularly shed and replaced.
Example sentencesExamples
- Within the urochordates, both genes placed Oikopleura (class Larvacea) as the sister group to all other urochordates.
Derivatives
adjective & noun
Zoology Ascidians and thaliaceans (which, along with the larvaceans, comprise the subphylum Urochordata) display a biphasic life-history with morphologically dissimilar larval and adult body plans.
Example sentencesExamples
- Comparisons of rotifer SL RNA sequences with those of nonnematode species, e.g., cestode or larvacean, showed no similarity (data not shown).
- The larvaceans - free-floating sea squirts that look a bit like tadpoles - live inside the diaphanous mucus nets.
- This supposition is largely based on data which suggests that, within the urochordates, the directly developing larvaceans are most primitive and the other two chordate subphyla are exclusively directly developing.
- Other more sophisticated jelly creatures include some mollusks and snails, and tunicates - sea squirts, salps and larvaceans.
Origin
Modern Latin (plural), from larva.