noun
- Plural of comatula; a genus of free-swimming crinoids (marine echinoderms) that lack a stalk in their adult form.
Usage: scientific; zoology; plural form
Examples
- Comatulae are commonly found in shallow tropical and subtropical seas.
- The comatulae use their feathery arms to filter-feed on plankton.
- Marine biologists collected several specimens of comatulae during the deep-sea expedition.
- Unlike stalked crinoids, comatulae are mobile and can swim by moving their arms.
- The taxonomy of comatulae has been refined through modern genetic analysis.