nucleoconch

English

Etymology

From nucleo- +‎ conch.

Noun

nucleoconch (plural nucleoconchs or nucleoconches)

1. (zoology) The embryonic shell of a foraminifera, especially the protoconch and deuteroconch of a megalospheric form.
   • 1945, John West Wells, American Old and Middle Tertiary Larger Foraminifera and Corals, page 77:

     This nucleoconch is less than half the size of that seen in the sections of D. crassa.

   • 1954, Alan Hilder Smout, Lower Tertiary Foraminifera of the Qatar Peninsula, British Museum (Natural History), page 25:

     A microspheric nucleoconch does not have an obvious deuteroconch, and is followed by a spiral nepionic stage, no matter what the adult chamber arrangement may be.