Ctenophoran.
/tiːˈnɒf(ə)rə/, /tɛˈnɒf(ə)rə/, U.S. /tɛˈnɑf(ə)rə/ Zoology.
Usually with plural agreement: a small phylum of pelagic marine invertebrates that comprises the comb jellies, which resemble cnidarians in having transparent jelly-like bodies and stinging tentacles, but possess eight ciliary comb rows used for swimming. Also: animals of this phylum (collectively or individually); ctenophores, comb jellies.Originally erected as an order of Acalepha, the Ctenophora were long regarded as a class or subphylum of coelenterates. When it was realized that their similarity to cnidarians was only superficial they were raised to phylum level.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Diploblastica > phylum Coelenterata > [noun] > class Ctenophora
Ctenophora1835
1835 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Advancem. Sci. 1834 233 In his classification he [sc. Eschscholtz] adopts three orders, Ctenophora, Discophora, and Siphonophora.
1855 P. H. Gosse Man. Marine Zool. I. 41 Body symmetrical, not disk-shaped..Ctenophora.
1858 Rep. Brit. Assoc. Adv. Sci. 1857 103 The Siphonophoræ were represented by the beautiful Agalmopsis of Sars; the Ctenophoræ by two species of Cydippe.
1888 G. Rolleston & W. H. Jackson Forms Animal Life (ed. 2) 721 The Ctenophora are transparent, pelagic, and are widely distributed.
1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl. Ctene, one of the swimming-plates in Ctenophora.
1909 Biol. Bull. 17 341 This method has been tried on scyphomedusæ, ctenophoræ, actinians, annelids, [etc.].
1940 G. S. Carter Gen. Zool. Invertebr. xiv. 273 Digestion is still mainly intracellular in the Cœlenterata, Ctenophora, and most Turbellaria.
1967 Pacific Sci. 21 474 (title) Bathymetric distribution of Chaetognatha, Siphonophorae, Medusae, and Ctenophorae off San Diego.
1978 Biol. Bull. 155 528 The tentaculate Ctenophora bear two very long contractile tentacles.
2005 Globe & Mail (Toronto) 14 Mar. a14/2 A sea gooseberry, a member of a different phylum, Ctenophora, drifted by, its eight comb plates beating.
Derivatives
cteˈnophoral adj. †(a) of or relating to the comb rows of Ctenophora (cf. ctenophore n. 2) (obsolete); (b) = ctenophoran adj. (now rare).
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Diploblastica > phylum Coelenterata > [adjective] > of or belonging to class Ctenophora
ctenophoral1861
ctenophoric1883
ctenophoran1888
1861 J. R. Greene Man. Animal Kingdom II. 169 Along the opposite sides of each ctenophoral canal.
1888 G. Rolleston & W. H. Jackson Forms Animal Life (ed. 2) 721 All movement [in Ctenophora] is carried out by the ctenophoral plates.
1904 Science 19 Aug. 243/2 Most of the essential ctenophoral characteristics, such as the grasping tentacles.., have been retained unchanged.
ctenoˈphoric adj. rare (now historical) = ctenophoran adj.
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the world > animals > invertebrates > subkingdom Metazoa > grade Diploblastica > phylum Coelenterata > [adjective] > of or belonging to class Ctenophora
ctenophoral1861
ctenophoric1883
ctenophoran1888
1883 Cent. Mag. Sept. 734/1 Observations on the ctenophoric jelly-fishes.
1943 A. Murdoch Boom Copper xiii. 149 What were millions upon millions of pounds of copper compared with cogent monographs on the embryology of the ctenophoric jellyfish?
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1852 Trans. Microsc. Soc. London 3 25 I have never succeeded in observing any motion in these crystals, or ciliary movements on the inner surface of the cyst.., either in the Ctenophorous or Discophorous Medusæ.
1877 A. Agassiz N. Amer. Starfishes 6 It is impossible at first sight to distinguish an egg of a Ctenophorous Medusa, which has undergone complete segmentation..after the germinative vesicle and dot have disappeared.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, September 2009; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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