opossum shrimp

American

noun

any small, shrimplike crustacean of the order Mysidacea, the females of which carry their eggs in a pouch between the legs.

opossum shrimp British

noun

any of various shrimplike crustaceans of the genera Mysis, Praunus, etc, of the order Mysidacea, in which the females carry the eggs and young around in a ventral brood pouch

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of opossum shrimp

First recorded in 1835–45

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023