Adjacent Words

copepod definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: minute marine or freshwater crustaceans usually having six pairs of limbs on the thorax; some abundant in plankton and others parasitic on fish [syn: copepod, copepod crustacean]

Merriam Webster's

noun Etymology: ultimately from Greek k?p? oar, handle + pod-, pous foot; probably akin to Latin capere to take — more at heave, foot Date: 1836 any of a large subclass (Copepoda) of usually minute freshwater and marine crustaceans • copepod adjective

Britannica Concise

Any of the 10,000 known species of crustaceans in the subclass Copepoda. Copepods are widely distributed and ecologically important, serving as food for many species of fish. Most species are free-living marine forms, found from the sea's surface to great depths. Some live in freshwater or in damp vegetation; others are parasites. Most species are 0.02-0.08 in. (0.5-2 mm) long. The largest species, a parasite of the fin whale, grows to a length of about 13 in. (32 cm). Unlike most crustaceans, copepods have no carapace. Nonparasitic forms feed on microscopic plants or animals or even on animals as large as themselves. Members of the genus Cyclops (order Cyclopoida) are called water fleas. See also guinea worm.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. any small aquatic crustacean of the class Copepoda, many of which form the minute components of plankton. Etymology: Gk kope oar-handle + pous podos foot

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Copepod Cop"e*pod, a. (Zo["o]l.) Of or pertaining to the Copepoda. -- n. One of the Copepoda.