Raphe (/ˈreɪfi/ RAY-fee; from Ancient Greek: ῥαφή, romanized: rhaphḗ, lit. 'seam';[1] pl.: raphae or raphes) has several different meanings in science.
In botany and planktology, it is commonly used when describing a seam or ridge on diatoms or seeds.
In animal anatomy, it is used to describe a ridged union[2] of continuous biological tissue. There are several different significant anatomical raphes:
In teratology, a malformation or congenital disorder involving a raphe, such as spina bifida, is known as a dysraphism.