I didn't like serial as an answer either and was quite content to put stream BUT googling proves quite emphatically that it IS serial. This is from one of the dictionary/answer sites
www.answer.com....... se�ri�al
adj.
Of, forming, or arranged in a series.
Published or produced in installments, as a novel or television drama.
Relating to such publication or production.
Responsible for a series of usually criminal acts over a period of time: a serial arsonist.
Music. Relating to or based on a row of tones, especially the 12 pitches of the chromatic scale.
Computer Science.
Of or relating to the sequential transmission of all the bits of a byte over one wire: a serial port; a serial printer.
Of or relating to the sequential performance of multiple operations: serial processing.