Zoeas

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /zoʊˈi.əz/

Definitions

1. The free-swimming larval stage of certain crustaceans, characterized by a simple body and appendages used for swimming and feeding
2. Early developmental form in some marine crustaceans that moves independently and has distinct morphological features from adults
3. A planktonic larva of crustaceans that undergoes several molts before transforming into the juvenile stage of the species

Etymology: "Zoeas" is the plural of "zoea," the free-swimming larva of many crabs, shrimp and their relatives. The singular "zoea" is itself a Greek-derived coinage, from "zoē," meaning "life." Zoologists chose it because the larva is the first stage of an animal's independent life, drifting in the plankton before the juvenile stage appears. The word belongs to the plural-friendly Greek-derived scientific vocabulary that naturalists favoured in the 19th century. Because "zoea" ends in a vowel, its plural takes an "s" rather than the "-ae" ending sometimes seen in classical borrowings, which is why "zoeas" is the form most English writers use.

Synonyms: larvae, crustacean larvae, marine larvae