nullipore

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   historical biology: a lime-secreting coralline alga, formerly classified among animals or treated as a distinct group of simple sea plants

   A crust of pink nullipore helped bind the exposed surface of the reef.

Formed in scientific vocabulary from nulli-, 'none,' + pore. Early naturalists applied the name to hard calcareous growths in which they believed pores were absent. The organisms are now recognized as coralline red algae rather than animals or a separate plant family.

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