1. The walking legs of crustaceans, typically five pairs in decapods (crabs, lobsters, shrimp), located behind the maxillipeds.
Usage: zoology; plural form; singular is pereiopod; technical term used in marine biology and crustacean anatomy

Examples

• The lobster uses its pereiopods to walk along the ocean floor.
• Crabs have five pairs of pereiopods adapted for different functions.
• The first pair of pereiopods in many decapods are modified into claws.
• Marine biologists examined the pereiopods to classify the crustacean species.
• Unlike the swimmerets, the pereiopods are primarily used for locomotion rather than swimming.