noun
- plural of amphioxus; small, fish-like marine animals without a backbone, considered primitive chordates.
Usage: biology; technical; also called lancelets
Examples
- Amphioxi are studied in biology classes to understand the evolution of vertebrates.
- The amphioxi lack a true brain and spine, making them important to evolutionary research.
- Marine biologists collected several amphioxi specimens from the ocean floor.
- Amphioxi belong to the phylum Chordata, which includes all vertebrates.
- These small amphioxi are transparent and measure only a few centimeters long.