pleopod

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From Ancient Greek πλέω (pléō, sail) + πούς (poús, foot), see also pleo- + -pod

Noun

pleopod (plural pleopods or pleopoda)

  1. (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.

Derived terms

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.