For those who don't know the story: Harry, being a chemistry teacher and not a biologist, referred to the aliens in his book Needle as "symbionts", not "symbiotes" which was the only correct term up to that time. People pointed out the mistake to him, but by then it ws too late. Although he tried to rescind his word, it spread like wild-fire, and today if you look up "symbiote" in the dictionary you find:

symbiote n.<-i>
See symbiont.
[French, from Greek sumbiotes, companion,
from sumbioun, to live together. See SYMBIOSIS.]
symbiont n.<-i>
An organism in a symbiotic relationship.
Also called symbiote.
[Greek sumbion, sumbiount-, present participle
of sumbioun, to live together. See SYMBIOSIS.]

Brons
April 27, 1995