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zooxanthella

Pronunciation: /ˌzuːə(ʊ)zanˈθɛlə, ˌzəʊəzanˈθɛlə/
Definition of zooxanthella

noun (plural zooxanthellae /-liː/)

Biology
  • a yellowish-brown symbiotic dinoflagellate present in large numbers in the cytoplasm of many marine invertebrates.

Derivatives

zooxanthellate

adjective

Origin:

late 19th century: modern Latin, from zoo- 'of animals' + Greek xanthos 'yellow' + the diminutive suffix -ella

zooxanthella in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of zooxanthella in the US English dictionary

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