English edit

Noun edit

dactylethra (plural dactylethrae)

  1. One of several hollow fingerlike projections found on some bryozoans, used to absorb nutrients.
    • 1920, Ferdinand Canu, Ray S. Bassler, North American Early Tertiary Bryozoa:
      Erkosonea differs from that genus in the presence of dactylethrae instead of tergospores.
    • 1941, James H. McGuirt, Louisiana Tertiary Bryozoa, page 105:
      The dorsal is hardly convex; it is formed by a thick layer of dactylethrae closed by a thin calcareous lamella. The dactylethrae appear on the frontal at the birfurcations.
    • 2020, Thomas Schwaha, Phylum Bryozoa:
      The heterozooids include mainly kenozooids or structures with comparable functions such as rhizoids, dactylethrae, tergozooecia (tergopores), cancelli (vacuolar zooecia), alveoli, firmatopores, nanozooids as well as eleozooids and their derivatives.
  2. A finger sheath
    • 2014, D. Michaelides, Medicine and Healing in the Ancient Mediterranean, page 151:
      Instruments used in Stomatology: Bouglosson (tongue scraper or depressor), dactylethra (finger stall), lithanaboleus (parotid duct stone hauler), stomatodiastoleus (mouth opening instrument), sphenarion (wedge to keep mouth open),
    • 2016 February 17, “Influence of Landscape Diversity and Composition on the Parasitism of Cotton Bollworm Eggs in Maize”, in PLOS ONE[1], →DOI:
      The egg gauze was carefully collected from the field after 48 h of exposure and maintained within 10 ml glass dactylethrae.