tubifex

[Lat. tuba a tube, and facio = to make.] Zool.: The type-genus of Tubificide (q. v.), formerly cla ed with the Naide. tü-bi-fiç-i-dæ, s. pl. [Mod. Lat. tubifex, gen it. tubific (is); Lat. fem. pl. adj. suff. -idæ.] Zoology : A family of Oligocheta Limicola, with numerous genera, living in cylindrical tubes of mud on the bottom of streams. Mouth segments united and often lengthened; skin transparent, appearing of a deep-red in the water; the part within the tube of a pale straw color; four rows of recurved setæ present, either simple or forked.