otolith
Americannoun
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any of the granules of calcium carbonate in the inner ear of vertebrates. Movement of otoliths, caused by a change in position of the animal, stimulates sensory hair cells, which convey the information to the brain
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another name for statolith
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Origin of otolith
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When processed properly, scientists like Lackmann can examine the otolith with a compound microscope and count the layers, like the rings on a tree, and learn the age of the fish.
From Science Daily • Oct. 30, 2023
Digging around, he extracted a bloody prize the size of a pencil eraser: an otolith, or ear bone.
From Seattle Times • Oct. 18, 2020
This, Wachter said, stresses the fish and causes a visible ring to form around a bone called the otolith.
From Washington Times • Oct. 6, 2018
In those individuals, Balaban says, further tests implicated damage to the ear's otolith organs, the utricle and the saccule, key to sensing gravity.
From Science Magazine • Jun. 20, 2018
Where the sac is completely closed it generally contains no solid particles, but in a few Macrura a single otolith secreted by the walls of the sac is present.
From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7 "Crocoite" to "Cuba" by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
