Zool. [ad. mod.L. Toxifera (Gray), f. Gr. τόξα arrows (or τόξευμα arrow, dart) + L. -fer bearing.] A mollusk of the sub-order Toxifera. (Cf. TOXOGLOSSATE.)
1853. J. E. Gray, in Ann. & Mag. Nat. Hist., Ser. II. XII. 177. The subulate barbed teeth are implanted by a distinct root into the substance of the tube…. The structure and organization of the mouth are so unlike that of the other Proboscidifera and Rostrifera, where the teeth are placed on a lingual ribbon and used to rasp the food … that I am inclined to form the Cones into a third sub-order, which may be called Toxifera.
1861. P. P. Carpenter, in Rep. Smithsonian Instit., 1860, 193. So far as known, the teeth and proboscis are like those of other Toxifers. Ibid. (1863), in Proc. Zool. Soc., 23 June, 347. Species belonging to different families of Proboscidifers and Toxifers.
