| Dictionary, Encyclopedia and Thesaurus - The Free Dictionary 3,918,194,169 visitors served. |
Dictionary/ thesaurus | Medical dictionary | Legal dictionary | Financial dictionary | Acronyms | Idioms | Encyclopedia | Wikipedia encyclopedia | ? |
Velum |
Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Wikipedia | 0.01 sec. |
|
|
velum [′vē·ləm]
(biology) A veil- or curtainlike membrane. (invertebrate zoology) A swimming organ on the larva of certain marine gastropod mollusks that develops as a contractile ciliated collar-shaped ridge. Also known as veil. (meteorology) An accessory cloud veil of great horizontal extent draped over or penetrated by cumuliform clouds; velum occurs with cumulus and cumulonimbus. velum Same asVelarium. Velum (1) An organ of locomotion and seizing food in medusae, siphonophores, and the larvae of many marine mollusks (veligers). In medusae and in the floating bells of the siphonophores, the velum is an overhanging border edging of the umbrella. Because of contraction of the circularly placed epithelial-muscle (in medusae) or muscle (in siphonophores) cells, the velum is pressed against the interior surface of the umbrella and, by expelling water from under it, causes locomotion of the animal. In veligers the velum, located at the front end of the body, resembles a fringed disk, often of complex form and covered with cilia. (2) A fold of the mucous membrane in the lancelet that divides the preoral hood from the pharyngeal cavity. Want to thank TFD for its existence? Tell a friend about us, add a link to this page, add the site to iGoogle, or visit the webmaster's page for free fun content. |
|
| Encyclopedia |
| Free Tools: |
For surfers:
Free toolbar & extensions |
Word of the Day |
Help
For webmasters: Free content | Linking | Lookup box | Double-click lookup |
|---|