Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- adj. Relating to, designating, or characterized by a tail fin having two symmetrical lobes extending from the end of the vertebral column, as in most bony fishes.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- In ichthyology, having the caudal fin symmetrical as to its upper and under halves: opposed to heterocercal. See heterocercal, diphycercal, hypural.
Wiktionary
- adj. ichthyology Describing the symmetric tail of a fish that has two lobes extending from the end of the vertebral column.
GNU Webster's 1913
- adj. (Zoöl.) Having the tail nearly or quite symmetrical, the vertebral column terminating near its base; -- opposed to
heterocercal .
WordNet 3.0
- adj. possessing a symmetrical tail that extends beyond the end of the vertebral column (as in most bony fishes)
Etymologies
- homo- + Greek kerkos, tail + -al1. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“These are the even-lobed, or homocercal (Fig. 68), and the uneven-lobed, or heterocercal (Fig. 69).”
“Now, in the development of a teleost fish (Fig. 68), as has been shown by Alexander Agassiz, the tail-fin is first like Fig. 70; then becomes heterocercal, like Fig. 69; and, finally, becomes homocercal like Fig. 68.”
“The lecturer dwelt chiefly on the argument of Agassiz, which he summarises as follows: "Homocercal fishes have in their embryonic state heterocercal tails; therefore heterocercality is, so far, a mark of an embryonic state as compared with homocercality, and the earlier heterocercal fish are embryonic as compared with the later homocercal.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘homocercal’.
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qreen-tailed
in the Century Dictionary definition of 'menhaden' there is a misprint - I speculate- o 'qreen-tailed'for green-tailed. BUT there are alot of odd-tails out there..............
uropygium, hypural, nudicaudate, plesiosaur, macrural, curvicaudate, homocercal, jabiru, xeme, sirenian, dugong, saururaceae and 56 more...
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