columella

columella (noun; Latin diminutive columna, column): 1. A rod, pillar or column.

2. (Cnidaria: Anthozoa) The central skeletal mass of many corals.

3. (Mollusca: Gastropoda) The solid or hollow pillar of a univalve shell around which the whorls are arranged.

4. (NEMATA) A structural unit of the female uterus composed of columns of cells believed to form the egg shell; prouterus; quadricolumella; tricolumella; oogenotop

See also: crustaformeria.