Definitions

from The Century Dictionary.

  • A class, superclass, or phylum of animals intermediate between and connecting the invertebrates with the true vertebrates, now made a prime division of chordate animals (see Chordata); the ascidians, tunicaries, or sea-squirts.

from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.

  • (Zoöl.) A grand division of the animal kingdom, intermediate, in some respects, between the invertebrates and vertebrates, and in modern classifications considered a subphylum of the vertebrates; called also urochordata. They were formerly classed with acephalous mollusks. The body is usually covered with a firm external tunic, consisting in part of cellulose, and having two openings, one for the entrance and one for the exit of water. The pharynx is usually dilated in the form of a sac, pierced by several series of ciliated slits, and serves as a gill.

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun tunicates

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