mastax

See also: Mastax

English

In this diagram from the 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica entry for 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica/Rotifera, the bit marked m in the picture on the left is a mastax

The mastax within a bdelloid rotifer

Etymology

From Ancient Greek μάσταξ (mástax, “mouth, jaws”).

Noun

mastax (plural mastaxes)

1. (zoology) The pharynx of a rotifer. It usually contains four horny pieces. The two central ones form the incus, against which the mallei, or lateral ones, work so as to crush the food.
2. (zoology) The lore of a bird.

Part or all of this entry has been imported from the 1913 edition of Webster’s Dictionary, which is now free of copyright and hence in the public domain. The imported definitions may be significantly out of date, and any more recent senses may be completely missing.
(See the entry for “mastax”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.)