viviparous shell

1 definition found

viviparous shell - Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 :

  Viviparous \Vi*vip"a*rous\, a. [L. viviparus; vivus alive +
     parere to bear, bring forth. Cf. Viper.] (Biol.)
     Producing young in a living state, as most mammals, or as
     those plants the offspring of which are produced alive,
     either by bulbs instead of seeds, or by the seeds themselves
     germinating on the plant, instead of falling, as they usually
     do; -- opposed to oviparous.
     [1913 Webster]
  
     Viviparous fish. (Zool.) See Embiotocoid.
  
     Viviparous shell (Zool.), any one of numerous species of
        operculated fresh-water gastropods belonging to
        Viviparus, Melantho, and allied genera. Their young,
        when born, have a well-developed spiral shell.
        [1913 Webster]