Zool. [mod.L. anodonta (in which form the word usually occurs), f. Gr. ἀν priv. + ὀδόντ-α tooth.] A genus of bivalve mollusks, so called because they have no teeth on the hinge of their shell; e.g., fresh-water mussels.
1847. Carpenter, Zool., § 949. The Unio resembles the Anodon in the structure of the shell … except that the hinge is more complicated.
1876. Beneden, Anim. Paras., 39. The young anodonts have, not like the other acephala, vibratory wheels in order to move themselves.
1878. Bell, Gegenbaur’s Comp. Anat., 342. The other posterior, as in Unio or Anodonta.
