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

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.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 12, Slice 2 "Gloss" to "Gordon, Charles George" by Various