Phyllopods

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. Any of a group of small crustaceans that swim using flattened, leaf-like limbs, including fairy shrimp and brine shrimp
2. A small aquatic crustacean whose broad, leaflike appendages are used for swimming and for gathering food from the water
3. Small crustaceans of the order Phyllopoda, which have flat, lobed legs that beat rhythmically to propel them through water

Etymology: Phyllopods are crustaceans, a group of small freshwater and brackish animals that swim on their backs using leaf-like, flattened limbs. The name combines the Greek "phullon", meaning "leaf", with "pous", meaning "foot", so the plural refers to a set of animals whose feet look like leaves. The first part, "phyllo-", appears in many scientific coinages built from the same Greek root, such as "phyllotaxy" for the arrangement of leaves on a stem. The second part, "-pod", is the ordinary scientific suffix for a limb or foot, found in words like "arthropod" and "cephalopod". Because the suffix is so common in zoological naming, the word reads as a description rather than a myth-laden name: it simply tells you what the animal's swimming organs look like.