tunicate

[ too-ni-kit, -keyt, tyoo- ]

noun

1. Zoology. any sessile marine chordate of the subphylum Tunicata (Urochordata), having a saclike body enclosed in a thick membrane or tunic and two openings or siphons for the ingress and egress of water.

adjective

1. (especially of the Tunicata) having a tunic or covering.
2. of or relating to the tunicates.
3. Botany. having or consisting of a series of concentric layers, as a bulb.

tunicate

/ -ˌkeɪt; ˈtjuːnɪkɪt /

noun

1. any minute primitive marine chordate animal of the subphylum Tunicata (or Urochordata, Urochorda ). The adults have a saclike unsegmented body enclosed in a cellulose-like outer covering (tunic) and only the larval forms have a notochord: includes the sea squirts See also ascidian

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the subphylum Tunicata
2. (esp of a bulb) having or consisting of concentric layers of tissue

tunicate

/ to̅o̅′nĭ-kĭt /

1. Any of various primitive marine chordate animals of the subphylum Tunicata, having a rounded or cylindrical body that is enclosed in a tough outer covering. Tunicates start out life as free-swimming, tadpolelike animals with a notochord (a primitive backbone), but many, such as the sea squirts, lose the notochord and most of their nervous system as adults and become fixed to rocks or other objects. Tunicates often form colonies.

Word History and Origins

Origin of tunicate¹

First recorded in 1615–25, tunicate is from the Latin word tunicātus wearing a tunic. See tunic, -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of tunicate¹

C18: from Latin tunicātus clad in a tunic

Example Sentences

The team eventually settled on three possibilities: a soft species of coral, a sea sponge or a marine invertebrate called a tunicate.

From Washington Times

The researchers were interested in tunicates because they filter-feed on plankton by continuously drawing water through their barrel-shaped bodies.

From Scientific American

They found that the ancestors of one group of palaemonid shrimp had all once lived inside ascidians, a group of tubular filter-feeding organisms that includes tunicates and sea squirts.

From Science Magazine

It belongs to a larger group of invertebrate animals that are closely related to all vertebrates: the tunicates.

From Scientific American

The next day aquarium employees visited Asilomar State Beach in Pacific Grove, where thousands of the tubular tunicates had also washed up, and explained a little more about them in a video.

From Los Angeles Times