nauplial
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nau·pli·us
(nô′plē-əs)n. pl. nau·pli·i (-plē-ī′)
The free-swimming first stage of the larva of certain crustaceans, having an unsegmented body with three pairs of appendages and a single median eye.
[New Latin, from Nauplius, former genus of crustacean (later discovered to be a larval stage of other genera), from Latin nauplius, paper nautilus, from Greek nauplios, nautilus (probably the pearly nautilus of the Indian Ocean) : naus, nau-, ship; see nāu- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots + plein, to sail, float, swim (the animal being so called because it was thought to sail in its shell like a ship and use its arms as oars); see pleu- in the Appendix of Indo-European roots.]
nau′pli·al (-əl) adj.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
nauplial
(ˈnɔːplɪəl)adj
(Zoology) of or relating to nauplius larva
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