Ophiurid

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A marine echinoderm distinguished by a central disc surrounded by several slender, flexible arms that aid in movement and inhabit oceanic regions
2. This organism is an echinoderm notable for its star-like shape, possessing a central body and numerous long appendages that facilitate locomotion in marine environments
3. A type of echinoderm characterized by a disc-shaped body and multiple long, flexible limbs that assist in movement through ocean habitats

Etymology: "Ophiurid" is an older form of "ophiuroid," the name for brittle stars and their relatives, a group of spiny-skinned sea creatures with a small central disc and long, thin, flexible arms. The name draws on Greek: "ophis" means "serpent" and "oura" means "tail," so the creature's arms were compared to a snake's tail. The "-id" ending, familiar from many zoological names, marks membership in a family or group, while "-oid" means "resembling" or "of the form of," so "ophiuroid" describes a creature that looks like a serpent-tailed thing. The word belongs to the scientific naming of the echinoderms, the phylum that also includes sea urchins and starfish. The class name Ophiuroidea was formed from the same Greek roots, and "ophiuroid" was derived from it as the ordinary noun for a member of that class. "Ophiurid" is the earlier-looking variant of the same term, now archaic, and it shows the classical roots at work more plainly than the newer spelling does.