noun
- one of the paired swimming appendages on the abdomen of certain crustaceans such as shrimp and lobsters
Usage: zoology
Examples
- The female shrimp carries her eggs attached to her pleopods.
- Lobsters use their pleopods for swimming and creating water currents.
- The pleopods of crayfish are modified for reproductive purposes.
- Marine biologists examined the pleopods under a microscope.
- Each pleopod consists of two branches that beat rhythmically.
- The pleopods help the crustacean maintain its position in the water column.