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Comatula

Comatula

9.9
A name used before for a kind of sea animal called a feather star
  • noun
  • Archaic
translation icon : Comatula
  • In older texts, Comatula is often used to refer to what we now call Antedon.

Examples

  • Specimens of Comatula were displayed in the natural history museum's invertebrate collection.

  • The marine zoologist described the structure of the Comatula in her research paper.

  • The Comatula species is fascinating to study.

  • Many marine biologists study Comatulas in their natural habitat.

  • The marine biologist wrote a paper on the diversity of Comatula found in various ocean depths.

  • During the research expedition, they collected samples of Comatula from the coral reefs.

  • In ancient literature, Comatula referred to star-like creatures that scientists now include in the Antedon family.

Synonyms

Antedon
vsComatula
  • Specialized
9.9

A sea animal with many feathery arms that looks like a star

is an older genus name now treated as identical to the accepted genus

Surface Forms

Comatula singular
Comatulas plural

Etymology

Comatula comes from the Latin root coma meaning 'hair' and the ending -ula meaning 'small', so it literally means 'little hairy one'. That's a helpful picture because these marine animals are feather stars with many thin, hair-like arms, which is why older books used Comatula for this group.