me10

[Lat., from Gr. mēlon =an apple.] Zool.: Melon-shell; a genus of proso branchiate siphonostomatous gasteropods, family Volutide. The shell is large, sub-oval, inflated, truncated in front, with a short spire, the apex of which is obtuse and rounded; whorls smooth. The columella has several oblique plaits, and the outer lip is thin and simple. The animals are ovo-viviparous. About ten species are known, principally from New Guinea; most of them are ornamented with a variety of colors; the living shell is covered with a greenish-brown epidermis. The foot is large and thick; the eyes are at the bases of the tentacles. měl ở căc-ti-dæ, subst . pl . [Mod. Latin melo cact (us); Lat. fem. pl. adj. suff. -idæ .] Bot .: A family of Cactacese, having flowers of melon-like, that is, of globose form.