branchial cleft

branchial cleft definition - medical

branchial cleft

noun
  1. One of a bilateral series of slitlike openings into the pharynx through which water is drawn by aquatic animals.
  2. Any of the homologous branchialectodermal grooves of the mammalian embryo.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

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