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the back, or dorsum, of an animal or of one of its parts; notal; tergal; neural; as, the dorsal fin of a fish; the dorsal artery of the tongue; -- opposed to ventral.

Same as Dorsal, n.

On, or toward, the dorsum, or back; on the dorsal side of; dorsad.

Situated in front of the back; immediately in front, or on the ventral side the dorsal part of the vertebral column.

An order of fishes having some of the rays of the dorsal, ventral, and anal fins unarticulated and spinelike, as the perch.

nautili in having the margins of the septa very much lobed or plaited, and the siphuncle dorsal. Also called serpent stone, snake stone, and cornu Ammonis.

A kind of annelid larva having both a dorsal and a ventral circle of special cilia.

site directions, as from the ridge of a roof. -- Anticlinal vertebra (Anat.), one of the dorsal vertebræ, which in many animals has an upright spine toward which the spines of the neighboring vertebræ are inclined.

large fish of the genus Histiophorus, of the Swordfish family, having a broad bannerlike dorsal fin; the sailfish. One species (H. Americanus) inhabits the North Atlantic.

to the Batrachidæ, a family of marine fishes, including the toadfish. Some have poisonous dorsal spines.

genus of gigantic American Jurassic dinosaurs, having large cavities in the bodies of the dorsal vertebræ.

One of a group of gastropod mollusks, with a shell composed of eight movable dorsal plates. See Polyplacophora.

A cord. Chorda dorsalis (. Etym: [NL., lit., cord of the back.] (Anat.) See Notochord.

ion of animals including all Vertebrata together with the Tunicata, or all those having a dorsal nervous cord.

utes auriga); -- called also charioteer. The name refers to a long, lashlike spine of the dorsal fin.

A yellowish beetle (Doryphora decemlineata), with ten longitudinal, black, dorsal stripes. It has migrated eastwards from its original habitat in Colorado, and is very destructive to the potato plant; -- called also potato beetle and potato bug. See Potato beetle.

re fixed by a stem. When adult they become detached and cling to seaweeds, etc., by their dorsal cirri; -- called also feather stars.

Rib-bearing, as the dorsal vertebræ.

The dorsal ridge of a bird's bill.

An attitude assumed in lying down; as, the dorsal decubitus.