branchial cleft

noun

1. Zoology.,  one of a series of slitlike openings in the walls of the pharynx between the branchial arches of fishes and aquatic amphibians through which water passes from the pharynx to the exterior.

Example Sentences

They are termed the “branchial clefts,” and are seen in the embryos of all vertebrates.

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Branchial cysts are formed by the distension of an isolated and unobliterated portion of one of the branchial clefts.

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The ninth nerve forks over the first branchial cleft.

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Their branchial gut also opens directly outwards by a pair of branchial clefts.

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In the fishes the water that serves for breathing, and is taken in at the mouth, still always passes out by the branchial clefts at the sides of the gullet.

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