spermatophore

English

Etymology

spermato- +‎ -phore

Noun

spermatophore (plural spermatophores)

  1. (biology) A spermospore.
  2. (zoology) A capsule or pocket enclosing a number of spermatozoa, found in many annelids, brachiopods, mollusks, and crustaceans.
    • 1910 June 20, Gilman A. Drew, “Sexual Activities of the Squid, Loligo pealii (Les.). I. Copulation, Egg-laying and Fertilization”, in Journal of Morphology, volume 22, number 2, Philadelphia, Pa.: Wistar Institute of Anatomy and Biology, published 1911, page 334:
      The spermatophores begin to ejaculate immediately after leaving the penis and the whole process is completed in a very few seconds. Pulling the filament attached to the ejaculatory end of a spermatophore is all that is needed to start its ejaculation.

Translations
spermospore — see spermospore

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for spermatophore in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.)

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