salpa

[sal-puh]

noun, plural sal·pas, sal·pae [sal-pee] /ˈsæl pi/.

any free-swimming, oceanic tunicate of the genus Salpa, having a transparent, more or less fusiform body.

Also salp

[salp] /sælp/.

Origin of salpa

1510–20; < New Latin, special use of Latin salpa < Greek sálpē kind of fish

Related formssal·pi·form

[sal-puh-fawrm] /ˈsæl pəˌfɔrm/, adjective

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Examples from the Web for salpa

Historical Examples of salpa

In order to move itself, the Salpa has recourse to a singular artifice.
The Ocean World:
Louis Figuier
The stolon, like that in Salpa, contains a prolongation of the branchial sack.
The Works of Francis Maitland Balfour, Volume III (of 4)
Francis Maitland Balfour
Perhaps Salpa is the nearest animal, although the transparency of the body is nearly the only character they have in common.
More Letters of Charles Darwin
Charles Darwin
Secondly, a Salpa, of the class which lives apart and has fine long fibres projecting from the hinder part of the body.
A New Voyage Round the World, in the years 1823, 24, 25, and 26, Vol. 2
Otto von Kotzebue
Lastly, we had the good fortune to procure a specimen of an animal which appears to form a link between the Salpa and Pyrosoma.
A New Voyage Round the World, in the years 1823, 24, 25, and 26, Vol. 2
Otto von Kotzebue

British Dictionary definitions for salpa

salpa

noun plural -pas or -pae (-piː)

any of various minute floating animals of the genus Salpa, of warm oceans, having a transparent barrel-shaped body with openings at either end: class Thaliacea, subphylum Tunicata (tunicates)

Derived Formssalpiform (ˈsælpɪˌfɔːm), adjective

Word Origin for salpa

C19: from New Latin, from Latin: variety of stockfish, from Greek salpē

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