pseudostome

Noun

pseudostome (plural pseudostomes)

1. The oral opening on the pseudembryo of an echinoderm.
   • In all the cases which I have observed, the ciliated bands so characteristic of the pseudembryonic form have made their appearance before the rupture of the vitelline sac; and frequently the pseudembryo has become somewhat reniform, a depressed ciliated patch indicating the position of the...1865, Wyville Thomson, “On the Embryogeny of Antedon rosaceus, Linck (Comatula rosacea of Lamarck”, in Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, page 521
   • The sarcodic body of the pseudembryo begins to shrink, the pseudostome and the two lower bauds of cilia disappear, and afterwards the two upper bands, and the embryo then becomes fixed to a stone, seaweed, or some other object.1903, Day Otis Kellogg, Thomas Spencer Baynes, William Robertson Smith, The Encyclopædia Britannica: A-ZYM, page 637
2. A false osculum or secondary opening which replaces the original osculum of a sponge.

   Synonyms:

   pseudoproct, pseudoscule

3. (broadly) A false opening that resembles a stoma but without any true aperture.
   • The opening is via a pseudostome situated on the chamber or at the top of a neck which flares out to form a collar.1985, Gérard Bignot, Elements of Micropalaeontology, →ISBN, page 123
   • It is flattened ventrally and is smooth around the pseudostome area.2003, Ken J. Clarke, Guide to the Identification of Soil Protozoa - Testate Amoebae, page 22

   Synonyms:

   pseudostoma

4. A North American rodent, Geomys bursarius.

   Synonyms:

   plains pocket gopher, pouched rat, pocket gopher