Definitions
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. In botany: The disk-like apex of the columella of Polytricheæ, which extends over the mouth of the capsule below the operculum.
- n. A delicate membrane closing the cup-like receptacle of the Nidulariacei.
- n. In conchology, the plate of hardened mucus secreted by a gastropod, as a snail, to plug up or seal the opening of the shell during hibernation; a sort of temporary or false operculum, sometimes hardened by calcareous deposit. See clausilium.
Wiktionary
- n. A dry layer of mucus used by a snail or mollusk to seal itself inside its shell during hibernation.
GNU Webster's 1913
- n. (Zoöl.) A membranaceous or calcareous septum with which some mollusks close the aperture of the shell during the time of hibernation, or estivation.
Examples
“When I examined them again yeaterday, the smaller one had sealed its aperture with an epiphragm.”
“SNAIL'S TALES: Cepaea nemoralis and its epiphragm skip to main”
“There is only a very narrow, short gap, visible at the top corner of the epiphragm, that the snail may have left open for air exchange, although I am not sure if it goes all the way thru the epiphragm to the other side.”
“Its aperture is almost perfectly sealed by its calcerous epiphragm.”
“After all, the shell is a hard solid structure that in most cases envelopes the entire snail and the aperture could be blocked by an epiphragm or by various folds and lamellae here is an example.”
“I wouldn't have expected a snail that is supposed to have originated in southeast Asia to build a similar epiphragm.”
“What struck me as odd was that they had their apertures sealed with a hard calcareous epiphragm as opposed to a membranous one observed in eastern U.S. snails that normally don't experience long dry periods.”
“In an another post, I remarked about the differences between the epiphragm of snails from California and Maryland.”
“The snail pictured below still had its epiphragm intact, which was actually transparent, but in the picture reflected light makes it look shiny.”
“In _Polytrichum_ a membranous epiphragm stretches across the wide mouth of the capsule between the tips of the short peristome teeth, and closes the opening except for the interspaces of the peristome.”
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 4, Part 3 "Brescia" to "Bulgaria"
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘epiphragm’.
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A Galimafrée of Plant Anatomy & Morph...
A hodgepodge, jumble, jambalaya, *gallimaufry, circus and tent revival of plant anatomy and morphology terms and phrases - its a big tent, and no tickets are required.
*array, collecti...naked bud, leaf blade, brochidodromous, serrate, cork cambium, rhizomatous, flower stalk, deciduous sepal, petal, whorl, nectar gland, stamen and 1348 more...
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hildjj's Words
bookmarklet, demisemiquaver, zeitgeist, hermeneutics, oligarch, quisling, absinthe, mellifluent, verisimilitude, implacable, necrotic, nacreous and 243 more...
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Worse Than They Sound
fistula, cryptosporidium, debride, donnybrook, decerebrate, pillory, flagellate, disembogue, minatory, micturate, coprolite, nosocomial and 160 more...
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Just 'cause I like 'em, E
excoriate, exoskeleton, enclave, endemic, erstwhile, entwine, elliptical, élan, earflaps, earlobe, earthen, earthenware and 238 more...
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Bachelard: The Poetics of Space
words I looked up while reading
panegyrics, topophilia, lares, oneirism, klaxoning, vaunted, presage, proferred, bugling, dovetailing, russet, diaphanous and 25 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for epiphragm.
ruzuzu Ah... sure... "hardened mucus" would be more like a storm door. Hm--wonder why bears didn't think of that. Mar 2, 2011
hernesheir Exactly, moll! Mar 2, 2011
mollusque More like a storm door. Mar 2, 2011
ruzuzu Wait... is it the gastropod equivalent of a tappen? Feb 28, 2011
frogapplause I like this word! Feb 28, 2011