1. relating to or involving the counting of body parts or segments, especially in biological classification
Usage: biology; zoology

Examples

• The biologist recorded meristic data on the number of fin rays in each fish specimen.
• Meristic characters like scale counts help distinguish between closely related species.
• The taxonomist used meristic features to classify the newly discovered beetle.
• Meristic variation in vertebrae number was observed across different populations.
• Scientists rely on meristic traits when traditional morphological features are insufficient.
• The study compared meristic characteristics between juvenile and adult forms.