noctiluca

[nok-tuh-loo-kuh]

noun

plural

noctilucae 

1. a dinoflagellate of the genus Noctiluca, capable of producing light and, in groups, of causing a luminous appearance of the sea.

noctiluca

/ ˌnɒktɪˈluːkə /

noun

1. any bioluminescent marine dinoflagellate of the genus Noctiluca

Other Word Forms

• noctilucan adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of noctiluca¹

1670–80; < New Latin; Latin noctilūca shiner by night, equivalent to nocti- nocti- + -lūca shiner, derivative of lūcēre to shine

Word History and Origins

Origin of noctiluca¹

C17: from Latin, from nox night + lūcēre to shine

Example Sentences

He added the dinoflagellate, called noctiluca, were present in the water "all the time", just not always at the surface where we can see bioluminescence clearly.

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As this weather front moves across the Arabian Sea every year, it churned up oxygen-poor water thick with nutrients that have fueled the rise of a 1.2-billion-year old algae called noctiluca scintillans.

Read more on Seattle Times

The mauve stinger jellyfish, also known as pelagia noctiluca, are small enough to get inside salmon cages.

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The new species bears similarities to the Pelagia noctiluca, also known as the mauve stinger for its purple glow and stinging abilities.

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GLOW-WORM, the popular name of the wingless female of the beetle Lampyris noctiluca, whose power of emitting light has been familiar for many centuries.

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