zoarium

[zoh-air-ee-uhm]

noun

Biology.

plural

zoaria, zoariums 

1. a collection of distinct, individual zooids that make up a compound or colonial organism.

2. the supporting structure for a polyp colony; polyzoarium.

Other Word Forms

• zoarial adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of zoarium¹

First recorded in 1880–85; zo- ( def. ) + -arium ( def. )

Example Sentences

Zoarium, zō-ā′ri-um, n. the colony of the polypides of a polyzoan.

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The zoarium forms a flat, more or less solid layer and is closely adherent to foreign objects.

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Division II, Cristatellina, nov.—Ectocyst absent except at the base of the zoarium which is modified to form a creeping "sole"; polypides embedded in a common synœcium of reticulate structure.

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It should be noted that zoaria of different species and genera of this subfamily are often found in close proximity to one another and to zoaria of Fredericella, and that the branches of the different species are sometimes entangled together in such a way that they appear, unless carefully separated, to belong to the same zoarium.

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Zoarium dendritic, recumbent, erect, or partly recumbent and partly erect.

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