noctiluca

American  

[nok-tuh-loo-kuh] / ˌnɒk təˈlu kə /

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.

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noctiluca British  

/ ˌnɒktɪˈluːkə /

noun

1. any bioluminescent marine dinoflagellate of the genus Noctiluca

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Other Word Forms

• noctilucan adjective

Etymology

Origin of noctiluca

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

Example Sentences

Citizen scientists have tracked the UK’s one firefly, the common glow-worm, Lampyris noctiluca, since the 1970s.

From The Guardian • Feb. 22, 2020

He was frequently found among the gaudy noctiluca of New York club life—the likes of Kenny Scharf, Ann Magnuson, John Sex, and Madonna.

From The New Yorker • Jun. 23, 2019

And that Lampyris noctiluca and Phosphaenus hemipterus, though commonly known as glow worms, are in fact beetles.

From The Guardian • Apr. 6, 2010

The males of the Lampyris noctiluca family, he reports with apparent approval, are choosy in picking their mates.

From Time Magazine Archive

Science employs the same term: it calls it the lantern-bearer, Lampyris noctiluca, Lin.

From The Wonders of Instinct Chapters in the Psychology of Insects by Teixeira de Mattos, Alexander