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Glite Dictionary
ostracod

ostracod

9.9
A very small water animal like a shrimp inside a hard two-part shell
  • noun
  • /ˈɑstrəˌkɒd/
  • Specialized
translation icon : ostrácodo
  • You can order from a biological supply company assorted unidentified plankton or three particular types of zooplankton: ostracods, copepods, and Daphnia, all of which are tiny crustaceans.

Examples

  • Ostracod data are from Angel (1997), and gastropod data are from Rex et al. (1997).

    Academic text (2000)

  • Accessory organisms include brachiopods, echinoderms, ostracods, pelmatozoans, bryozoans, and conodonts.

    Blog text (19)

  • An ostracod is a tiny crustacean found in many marine environments, and it has a bivalve shell that protects its body.

  • Scientists have discovered a new species of ostracod that measures just a few millimeters in length.

  • During our dive, we observed several clear examples of ostracods swimming gracefully among the coral reefs.

Synonyms

mussel shrimp
vsostracod
  • Specialized
9.4

A very small water animal that has a hard shell like a mussel and a body like a small shrimp

is the same concept but expressed by the key term
seed shrimp
vsostracod
  • Specialized
7.9

A very small water animal like a shrimp with its whole body inside a two-part shell

does not state the taxonomic order explicitly

Surface Forms

ostracod singular
ostracods plural

Etymology

Ostracod comes from the Greek ostrakon, meaning 'shell', plus the ending -od, meaning 'form' or 'like'. So an ostracod is a small animal that is 'in a shell' or 'shell-like', which fits its shrimp-like body inside a two-part shell.