Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • adjective Having or composed of segments; segmented.
  • adjective Relating to a change in the number or placement of body parts or segments.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • Pertaining to or exhibiting merism.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • adjective ichthyology Of or pertaining to meristics.
  • noun ichthyology A quantitative property of a fish, as studied in meristics.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[From Greek meristos, divided; see meristem.]

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Examples

  • Museum specimens of Kern River rainbow trout collected in 1893 and 1904 have the same meristic characteristics as specimens of Little Kern River golden trout collected at the same time.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • In the Mexican golden trout, the greatest differentiation from all other rainbow trout species is found in meristic countable characteristics, such as number of scales, fin rays, and pyloric caeca.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • Museum specimens of Kern River rainbow trout collected in 1893 and 1904 have the same meristic characteristics as specimens of Little Kern River golden trout collected at the same time.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • In the evolution of the South Fork Kern and Golden Trout Creek golden trout, trends in coloration, spotting, and meristic countable traits characteristic of northern Sacramento basin redband trout have been taken to extremes.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • In the evolution of the South Fork Kern and Golden Trout Creek golden trout, trends in coloration, spotting, and meristic countable traits characteristic of northern Sacramento basin redband trout have been taken to extremes.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • Such modification of meristic characteristics would be expected from a hybrid influence from hatchery rainbow trout, which were continually stocked in the main Kern and its tributaries for more than 90 years.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • Such changes in meristic characteristics would be expected from a hybridization with hatchery rainbow trout.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • Westslope cutthroat trout tend to have fewer meristic elements than Yellowstone cutthroat, but the variation in counts within each species and the overlap of counts between subspecies is considerable.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • In coloration and spotting patterns, and in their meristic characteristics, the Yaqui and Mayo trout resemble the Gila trout, which might suggest they were derived from the same ancestor.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

  • In the Mexican golden trout, the greatest differentiation from all other rainbow trout species is found in meristic countable characteristics, such as number of scales, fin rays, and pyloric caeca.

    Trout and Salmon of North America Robert J. Behnke 2002

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  • Divided into parts or segments. (from Phrontistery)

    May 25, 2008