phyllidium

Noun

phyllidium (plural phyllidia)

1. A muscular, leaf-shaped or cuplike outgrowth from the lateral wall of the scolex of some cestodes.
   • The five species described above form an interesting series illustrating the gradual modification of the entire phyllidium into a sucker, just as individual loculi become modified into suckers.1927, Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London - Part 2, page 526
   • The excretory vessels form a hairpin loop just inside the phyllidium (Pl. 5 Fg.1). It seems strange that the excretory vessels do not extend to the margins of these giant phyllidia since they invariably do in other forms with large phyllidia such as Phyllobothrium lactuca, etc.1949, Nathan W. Riser, Studies on the Tetraphyllidea, page 84

   Synonyms:

   bothridium

2. A rudimentary form of ctenidium found in some gastropods.