Having the characteristics of aspidobranchs; possessing the simple, shield-arranged gill structure typical of limpets and abalones.
From 'aspidobranch' (the organism) + '-iate' (adjectival suffix), describing something that has or exhibits these gill characteristics.
When marine biologists use this term, they're really identifying a creature as a 'primitive mollusk'—it's a scientific way of saying 'this animal has barely changed since the dinosaurs walked!'
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