zoea

[ zoh-ee-uh ]

noun,plural zo·e·ae

[zoh-ee-ee], /zoʊˈi i/, zo·e·as.Zoology.

any of the free-swimming larva of certain crustaceans, as the crab, having rudimentary legs and a spiny carapace.

Origin of zoea

1820–30; <New Latin, equivalent to Greek zō(ḗ) life + New Latin -ea-ea

Other words from zoea

zo·e·al, adjective

Words Nearby zoea

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use zoea in a sentence

Again and again its skin splits, and a rather different zoea appears.
On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader Smith
You ask about the skipping of the zoea stage in fresh-water decapods: is this an illustration of acceleration?
More Letters of Charles Darwin | Charles Darwin
As an illustration of this metamorphosis, we give figures of the zoea Taurus in two states, viz., Fig.
The Ocean World: | Louis Figuier
With crowds of its brothers and sisters, the zoea kicks about on the surface of the sea.
On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader Smith
The maggot is the larva of the fly, and the zoea is the larva of the Crab.
On the Seashore | R. Cadwallader Smith

British Dictionary definitions for zoea

zoea

zoaea

/ (zəʊˈiːə) /

nounplural zoeae or zoaeae (zəʊˈiːiː) or zoeas or zoaeas

the free-swimming larva of a crab or related crustacean, which has well-developed abdominal appendages and may bear one or more spines

Origin of zoea

C20: New Latin, from Greek zōē life

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

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