English

Noun

blastophore ‎(plural blastophores)

1. (biology, obsolete) That portion of the spermatospore which is not converted into spermatoblasts, but carries them.
   • 1880, Journal of Microscopy, volume 3:

     It does not, however, happen that the whole spermatosphere is converted into spermatoblasts; there remains a passive portion, which in the earthworm occupies a central position; this is the "sperm-blasophore," or "blastophoral cell."

   • 1906, W. M. Smallwood, “Notes on Branchiobdella”, in The Biological Bulletin, page 106:

     Associted with the formation of the male sex cells from the time they leave the testes until the spermatozoön becomes fully grown there is a protoplasmic structure, termed the blastophore (Bloomfield, '80, Calkins, '95) in Lumbricus, and the cytophore (Voigt, '85) in Branchiobdella varians.

   • 1916, F. J. Meggitt, “A new species of tapeworm from a parakeet, Brotogerys tirica”, in Parasitology, volume 8, page 50:

     The cytophore now splits internally in such a way as to separate an inner sphere (blastophore) from an outer envelope.

Derived terms

• blastophoral