branchiostegal

[brang-kee-os-ti-guhl]

noun

1. Also called branchiostegal ray. one of the long, curved bones just below the operculum, supporting the gill membranes.

adjective

1. of or relating to the branchiostegals.

branchiostegal

/ ˌbræŋkɪəˈstiːɡəl /

adjective

1. zoology of or relating to the operculum covering the gill slits of fish

   branchiostegal membrane

   branchiostegal rays

Word History and Origins

Origin of branchiostegal¹

First recorded in 1740–50; branchio- + steg(o)- + -al ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of branchiostegal¹

from _branchia + Greek stegos roof

Example Sentences

Again, there are those who have written at great length of this and that species and sub-species, with many words and nice distinctions relative to vomerine teeth, branchiostegal rays and other anatomical differences.

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From the hinder edge of the hyoid arch grows out the membranous operculum, in which develop later the opercular bones and branchiostegal rays.

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Geoffroy's next step is to point out that the only possible homologues of sternal ribs are the branchiostegal rays, which arise from the large bones of the hyoid arch.

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These are the bones connected with respiration—the operculum, the branchiostegal rays, the branchial arches, and others.

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He could reject, with a mere reference to the facts of development, Geoffroy's comparison of the hyoid and the branchiostegal rays in fish with sternum and ribs.

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