acanthocephalan

a·can·tho·ceph·a·lan

A0034900 (ə-kăn′thə-sĕf′ə-lən) also a·can·tho·ceph·a·lid (-lĭd)n. See spiny-headed worm.

---

[From New Latin Acanthocephala, phylum name : acantho- + Greek kephalē, head; see -cephalous.]

---

a·can′tho·ceph′a·lan adj.

acanthocephalan

(əˌkænθəʊˈsɛfələn) n (Animals) any of the parasitic wormlike invertebrates of the phylum Acanthocephala, the adults of which have a spiny proboscis and live in the intestines of vertebratesadj (Zoology) of, relating to, or belonging to the Acanthocephala

spin′y-head`ed worm′

n. any of a small group of intestinal parasites of the phylum Acanthocephala, having a proboscis covered with hooks used for attachment. [1945–50]

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

acanthocephalan - any of various worms living parasitically in intestines of vertebrates having a retractile proboscis covered with many hooked spinesspiny-headed wormworm - any of numerous relatively small elongated soft-bodied animals especially of the phyla Annelida and Chaetognatha and Nematoda and Nemertea and Platyhelminthes; also many insect larvaeAcanthocephala, phylum Acanthocephala - phylum or class of elongated wormlike parasites that live in the intestines of vertebrates: spiny-headed worms