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Webster 1913 Edition
Ianthina
‖
I-an′thi-na
,Noun.
pl. L.
Ianthinæ
(#)
, E. Ianthinas
(#)
. [NL., fr. L.
ianthinus
violet-blue, Gr. [GREEK]; [GREEK] violet + [GREEK] flower.] (Zool.)
Any gastropod of the genus
Ianthina
, of which various species are found living in mid ocean; – called also purple shell
, and violet snail
. [Written also
janthina
.] ☞ It floats at the surface by means of a raft, which it constructs by forming and uniting together air bubbles of hardened mucus. The Tyrian purple of the ancients was obtained in part from mollusks of this genus.