erroneously theca-, combining form of Gr. θήκη case, receptacle (see THECA), used in Botany and Zoology. Thecodactyl(e [Gr. δάκτυλος digit], a. having thick toes whose transverse scales furnish a sheath for the claw, as in some lizards; sb. a gecko of this type (Ogilvie, 1882); so Thecodactylous a. Thecoglossate a. [Gr. γλῶσσα tongue], having a smooth tongue furnished with a sheath, as the Thecoglossæ, a group of lizards. Thecophore [-PHORE], (a) a surface or receptacle bearing a theca or thecæ (Webster, 1864); (b) the stalk which in some flowers supports the ovary; = GYNOPHORE 1. Thecosomate, Thecosomatous adjs. [Gr. σῶμα body], belonging to the Thecosomata, a group of pteropods having the body sheathed in a mantle-skirt; so Thecosome, a thecosomatous pteropod. Thecospore, a spore produced in a theca, an ascospore; hence Thecosporal a., pertaining to a theospore; Thecospored, Thecosporous adjs., having thecospores. Thecostome [Gr. στόμα mouth], the orifice of the hydrotheca in calyptoblastic hydroids. Thecostomous a., having the sucking parts of the mouth enclosed in a sheath.
1891. Cent. Dict., *Thecodactylous … *Thecoglossate.
1832. Lindley, Introd. Bot., I. i. § 10. 139. Sometimes the ovarium … is seated upon a long stalk…. This stalk is often called the *thecaphore or gynophore.
1878. Bell, Gegenbaur’s Comp. Anat., 321. The velum is largest in the Gastropoda and the *thecosomatous Pteropoda.
1888. Pelseneer, in Challenger Rep., XXIII. 2. The Habits of the Thecosomatous Pteropods.
1890. Athenæum, 12 July, 66/2. The *thecosomes being tornatellids modified for a swimming life.
1891. Cent. Dict., *Thecasporal.
1858. Carpenter, Veg. Phys., § 405. The Lichens produce conceptacles,… called apothecia,… which develope in their interior little bodies, called *thecaspores.
1882. J. M. Crombie, in Encycl. Brit., XIV. 555/2. In various *thecaspored fungi.
1879. Webster, Supp., *Thecasporous.
1883. Challenger Rep., VII. xx. 7. On either side of the hydrotheca, nearly on a level with its orifice or *thecostome.
1891. Cent. Dict., *Thecostomous.
