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serpula

serpula


  1  definition  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Serpula  \Ser"pu*la\,  n.;  pl  {Serpul[ae]},  E.  {Serpulas}.  [L.,  a 
  little  snake.  See  {Serpent}.]  (Zo["o]l.) 
  Any  one  of  numerous  species  of  tubicolous  annelids  of  the 
  genus  {Serpula}  and  allied  genera  of  the  family 
  {Serpulid[ae]}.  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.