| serpula | Origin: L, a little snake. See Serpent. <zoology> Any one of numerous species of tubicolous annelids of the genus Serpula and allied genera of the family Serpulidae. They secrete a calcareous tube, which is usually irregularly contorted, but is sometimes spirally coiled. The worm has a wreath of plumelike and often bright-coloured gills around its head, and usually an operculum to close the aperture of its tube when it retracts. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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