pleopod
/ˈpliːəˌpɒd/ noun
Forms pleopods pleopoda pleiopod pleiopus pleopus
- noun (zoology) One of the abdominal legs of a crustacean. “In decapods such as lobsters, pleopods are legs mainly used for swimming but sometimes used for brooding eggs or catching food. In some species certain pleopods of an animal may have been adapted to special functions such as reproduction.”
Synonyms
Etymology
From pleon (“the abdomen of a crustacean”) + -pod (“foot”).
Webster’s 1913
- noun One of the abdominal legs of a crustacean. See Illust. under Crustacea.
Etymology [Gr. -pod.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “pleopod”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details