ASCIDIAN Definition & Meaning

ascidian

[ uh-sid-ee-uhn ]

Phonetic (Standard)IPA

noun

any solitary or colonial tunicate of the class Ascidiacea, exhibiting in the larval stage the vertebrate characteristics of a notocord and hollow nerve cord.

adjective

belonging or pertaining to the class Ascidiacea.

ascidian

/ əˈ��ɪ��ɪə�� /

noun

any minute marine invertebrate animal of the class Ascidiacea, such as the sea squirt, the adults of which are degenerate and sedentary: subphylum Tunicata (tunicates)
ascidian tadpole
the free-swimming larva of an ascidian, having a tadpole-like tail containing the notochord and nerve cord

adjective

of, relating to, or belonging to the Ascidiacea

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�y��vlog History and Origins

Origin of ascidian¹

1855–60; < New Latin Ascidi ( um ) a tunicate genus ( ascidium ) + -an

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Therefore, ascidians are often used as model organisms to study the early embryonic development of vertebrates to which humans belong.

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They found that the ancestors of one group of palaemonid shrimp had all once lived inside ascidians, a group of tubular filter-feeding organisms that includes tunicates and sea squirts.

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There are several advantages to studying embryonic development in sea squirts — which are also known as ascidians.

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In the sea and along its shores swarm organisms of the other living world — marine diatoms, crustaceans, ascidians, sea hares, priapulids, coral, loriciferans and on through the still mostly unfilled encyclopedia of life.

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An egg does not come from a stone, and the ascidian did not come from a lifeless rock.

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