spirula

American  

[spir-yuh-luh, -oo-luh] / ˈspɪr yə lə, -ʊ lə /

noun

plural

spirulae

1. any cephalopod of the genus Spirula, having a flat, spiral shell that is partly inside and partly outside the posterior part of the body.

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spirula British  

/ ˈspaɪrʊlə /

noun

1. a tropical cephalopod mollusc, Spirula peronii, having prominent eyes, short arms, and a small flattened spirally coiled internal shell: order Decapoda (cuttlefish and squids)

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Etymology

Origin of spirula

First recorded in 1825–35; from New Latin, from Late Latin spīrula “twisted cake.” See spiro- ² ( def. ), -ule

Example Sentences

Spirula is distinguished from all other existing Cephalopods by the structure of its coiled shell, which in many respects resembles those of the extinct Ammonites, and is not completely internal.

From Project Gutenberg

Spirula, spir′ū-la, n. a genus of sepioid cuttle-fishes.

From Project Gutenberg

After a gale, on looking amongst the wrack cast up by the highest waves, large numbers of our Spirula will be found.

From Project Gutenberg

In places in New Zealand, and elsewhere, large fossil deposits of Spirula peroni occur.

From Project Gutenberg

A further peculiarity of the nautilus shell and of that of the allied extinct Ammonites, Scaphites, Orthoceras, &c., and of the living Spirula, is that the series of deserted air-chambers is traversed by a cord-like pedicle extending from the centro-dorsal area of the visceral hump to the smallest and first-formed chamber of the series.

From Project Gutenberg