||Tri"ton (?), n. [L., fr. Gr.&?;.] (Gr.
Myth.) A fabled sea demigod, the son of Neptune and Amphitrite,
and the trumpeter of Neptune. He is represented by poets and painters as
having the upper part of his body like that of a man, and the lower part
like that of a fish. He often has a trumpet made of a shell.
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea,
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
Wordsworth.
2. (Zoöl.) Any one of many species of
marine gastropods belonging to Triton and allied genera, having a
stout spiral shell, often handsomely colored and ornamented with prominent
varices. Some of the species are among the largest of all gastropods.
Called also trumpet shell, and sea trumpet.
3. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species
of aquatic salamanders. The common European species are Hemisalamandra
cristata, Molge palmata, and M. alpestris, a red-bellied
species common in Switzerland. The most common species of the United States
is Diemyctylus viridescens. See Illust. under
Salamander.
||Tri"ton (?), n. [L., fr. Gr.&?;.] (Gr.
Myth.) A fabled sea demigod, the son of Neptune and Amphitrite,
and the trumpeter of Neptune. He is represented by poets and painters as
having the upper part of his body like that of a man, and the lower part
like that of a fish. He often has a trumpet made of a shell.
Have sight of Proteus rising from the sea,
Or hear old Triton blow his wreathed horn.
Wordsworth.
2. (Zoöl.) Any one of many species of
marine gastropods belonging to Triton and allied genera, having a
stout spiral shell, often handsomely colored and ornamented with prominent
varices. Some of the species are among the largest of all gastropods.
Called also trumpet shell, and sea trumpet.
3. (Zoöl.) Any one of numerous species
of aquatic salamanders. The common European species are Hemisalamandra
cristata, Molge palmata, and M. alpestris, a red-bellied
species common in Switzerland. The most common species of the United States
is Diemyctylus viridescens. See Illust. under
Salamander.
