bone-eating snot flower worm

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English

WOTD – 2 November 2012

Etymology

A slight misunderstanding of the taxonomic name Osedax mucofloris, which actually means "snot-flower bone-eater", with mucofloris modifying Osedax rather than the other way around.

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /bəʊn iːtɪŋ ˈsnɒt flaʊə wɜːm/
  • (US) IPA(key): /boʊn itɪŋ ˈsnɑt flaʊɚ wɝm/
  • Audio (AU)(file)

Noun

bone-eating snot flower worm (plural bone-eating snot flower worms)

  1. A worm-like creature, Osedax mucofloris, that feeds on the carcasses of minke whales in the North Sea.
    • 2005 October 19, “Bone-eating snot flower worm hitches a ride on whales”, in The Guardian:
      Bone-eating snot flower (Osedax mucofloris) is the unglamorous name given to a species of worm discovered feeding off minke whale carcasses in the North Sea
    • 2010 May 27, “Creatures of the deep surface at new exhibition”, in CNN:
      Once all the meat has been stripped away, even the bones provide food for a creature called the "bone-eating snot flower worm" (Osedax mucofloris).
    • 2010 October 21, “Los Angeles News - Rob Brezsny's Free Will Astrology Column”, in LA Weekly:
      Known informally as the bone-eating snot-flower worm, it looks like a frilly pink plume growing up out of sheer bone
    • 2012, DEK Ferrier, “Evolutionary crossroads in developmental biology: annelids”, in Development:
      Such a range of habitats along with a wide range of feeding strategies, including predation, deposit feeding, filter feeding, parasitism and symbiosis, as well as the unusual strategy adopted by the bone-eating snot-flower worm

Translations

See also

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia