VESTIMENTIFERAN

noun Etymology: New Latin Vestimentifera, from vestimentum muscular structure by which the worm emerges from its tube (from Latin, garment) + -fera, neuter plural of -fer -fer Date: 1982 any of a taxonomic group (Vestimentifera) of very large tube worms that may grow to 9 feet (3 meters) in length and more than an inch (3 centimeters) in diameter, are found especially near deep-sea hydrothermal vents, and are considered pogonophorans or a separate phylum of polychaetes, ~ adjective