nematocyst
English
Etymology
Formed as nemato- + cyst after the French nématocyste.
Noun
nematocyst (plural nematocysts)
- (biology) A capsule, in certain cnidarians, containing a barbed, threadlike tube that delivers a paralyzing sting
- 1885, R. J. Harvey Gibson, “Observations on the nematocysts of Hydra fusca”, in Proceedings of the Literary and Philosophical Society of Liverpool, volume 39, page 30:
- Often one sees, on surface view, a distinctly rounded vacuole, occupying a position in the cell occupied in others by a large nematocyst.
Derived terms
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