Definitions

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

  • noun Any of various marine hydroids of the genus Obelia that exist chiefly as colonies of polyps growing in a branchlike form on surfaces such as piers or rocks.

from The Century Dictionary.

  • noun A genus of campanularian polyps, distinguished from Campanularia by the flat discoidal medusæ with many marginal tentacles and eight interradial vesicles.

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

  • noun zoology Any of various colonial marine hydroids of the genus Obelia.

Etymologies

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

[New Latin Obelia, genus name, probably from Greek obeliās, a loaf baked on a spit, from obelos, a spit.]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

From Ancient Greek  (obelia, "a round cake").

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Examples

  • Obelia Medusa: Second Generation - The second generation of the obelia life cycle begins when the medusae are released by the gonozooids and become free swimming forms.

    unknown title 2009

  • Obelia Hydroid: First Generation - The first obelia generation, illustrated in the photomicrograph in this section, lives in hydroid colonies, consisting of polyps.

    unknown title 2009

  • Obelia Medusa: Second Generation - The second generation of the obelia life cycle begins when the medusae are released by the gonozooids and become free swimming forms.

    unknown title 2009

  • Obelia Hydroid: First Generation - The first obelia generation, illustrated in the photomicrograph in this section, lives in hydroid colonies, consisting of polyps.

    unknown title 2009

  • Obelia Hydroid: First Generation - The first obelia generation, illustrated in the photomicrograph in this section, lives in hydroid colonies, consisting of polyps.

    unknown title 2009

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