zoea

American  

[zoh-ee-uh] / zoʊˈi ə /

noun

Zoology.

zoeae, plural zoeas plural

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

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zoea British  

/ zəʊˈiːə /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• zoeal
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• zoeae
  plural
• zoeas
  plural

Etymology

Origin of zoea

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

Example Sentences

The Zoea was formerly regarded as a recapitulation of an ancestral form, but there can be no doubt that its peculiarities are the result of secondary modification.

From Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 7, Slice 7 "Crocoite" to "Cuba" by Various

Consequently these processes of the carapace may be regarded as acquired by the Zoea itself in the struggle for existence.

From Facts and Arguments for Darwin by Muller, Fritz

Far more profound is the difference of the youngest brood from the sexually mature animal in by far the greater majority of the Podophthalma, which quit the egg in the form of Zoea.

From Facts and Arguments for Darwin by Muller, Fritz

Older larva produced from the Zoea represented in Figure 32.

From Facts and Arguments for Darwin by Muller, Fritz

Again, if an imaginary decapod retained, when adult, many Zoea characters, would this not be a case of retardation?

From More Letters of Charles Darwin — Volume 1 by Darwin, Francis, Sir