Lexic.us

Definition of Serpula

1. n. Any one of numerous species of tubicolous annelids of the genus Serpula and allied genera of the family Serpulidæ. 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-colored gills around its head, and usually an operculum to close the aperture of its tube when it retracts.

Definition of Serpula

1. a marine worm [n SERPULAE]

Medical Definition of Serpula

1. Origin: L, a little snake. See Serpent. 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)

Lexicographical Neighbors of Serpula

Literary usage of Serpula

Below you will find example usage of this term as found in modern and/or classical literature:

1. Annals and Magazine of Natural History by William Jardine (1845)
"B. of serpula vermicularis. The character of it given by Linnaeus is very ... Mr. Morris mentions a fossil serpula filiformis, Cat. Brit. Foss. p. 66. ..."

2. A Manual of Palaeontology for the Use of Students with a General by Henry Alleyne Nicholson (1872)
"... such as serpula, are less regular and symmetrical than those of ... if not actually identical with, the recent serpula, are found in almost all ..."

3. The Mineral Conchology of Great Britain: Or Coloured Figures and by James Sowerby (1829)
"Upon the same surface are two other species of serpula, an Exogyra ? and portions of the Pear ... serpula ..."

4. Organic Remains of a Former World.: An Examination of the Mineralized by James Parkinson (1811)
"This shell, which is serpula penis, Linn. has not been seen fossil; nor is the nature of its inhabitant known. LXVIII. Dentalium. ..."

5. On Molecular and Microscopic Science by Mary Somerville (1869)
"The serpula and its allies are richly-coloured worms, living in contorted ... of serpula. encrusting rocks, the shells of oysters, and other mol- lusca. ..."

6. The Animal Kingdom Arranged in Conformity with Its Organization by Georges Cuvier, Edward Griffith, Charles Hamilton Smith, Edward Pidgeon, John Edward Gray, George Robert Gray (1830)
"The genera found in all the strata, chalk inclusive, as well as in the living state, are eight in number: viz. Caryophyllus, Seriatopora, serpula ..."

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