noun
- Plural of gonophore; specialized reproductive structures in certain hydrozoans and other marine organisms that produce gametes or medusae.
Usage: biology; zoology; technical
Examples
- The gonophores of the hydrozoan colony developed into mature medusae.
- Marine biologists studied the gonophores to understand the reproductive cycle of the species.
- These gonophores are responsible for sexual reproduction in certain colonial organisms.
- The gonophores budded from the main polyp and eventually detached as free-swimming forms.