chaetognath

chae·tog·nath  (ktg-nth)

n.

Any of various marine worms of the phylum Chaetognatha, which includes the arrow worms.

adj.

Of, relating to, or belonging to the phylum Chaetognatha.

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[From New Latin Chaetognatha, phylum name : chaeta, chaeta; see chaeta + Greek gnathos, jaw; see genu-² in Indo-European roots.]

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chae·togna·thous (-n-ths) adj.

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chaetognath [ˈkiːtɒgˌnæθ]

n

(Life Sciences & Allied Applications / Animals) any small wormlike marine invertebrate of the phylum Chaetognatha, including the arrowworms, having a coelom and a ring of bristles around the mouth

[New Latin Chaetognatha, literally: hair-jaw, from chaeta + Greek gnathos jaw]

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chaetognath  (ktg-nth)

Any of various small, wormlike marine invertebrates of the phylum Chaetognatha, having often transparent or translucent bodies that are pointed at one end. The head has small hooks for grasping prey, and it contains a large cerebral ganglion of sensory nerves. Chaetognaths are popularly called arrowworms, and are thought to be related to the echinoderms and chordates.

Thesaurus

Noun

1.

chaetognath - any worm of the Chaetognatha; transparent marine worm with horizontal lateral and caudal fins and a row of movable curved spines at each side of the mouth arrowworm worm - 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 larvae Chaetognatha, phylum Chaetognatha - arrowworms: a group of small active transparent marine worms sagitta - any arrowworm of the genus Sagitta