salp

salp [salp]

n.

pl. salp or salps 〚ModL < L, kind of stockfish < Gr salpē〛

any of an order (Salpida, class Thaliacea) of free-swimming tunicates characterized by a barrel-shaped body ringed with muscle and open at both ends: also called salpa [sal′pə] n. salpas or salpae [sal′pē]

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salp (sălp) also sal·pa (sălʹpə) n.

Any of various free-swimming tunicates of the genus Salpa, of warm seas, having a translucent, somewhat flattened, keglike body.

  [From New Latin Salpa, genus name, from Latin, a kind of stockfish, from Greek salpē.]   salʹpi·form' (sălʹpə-fôrm') adj.

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▪ tunicate

      any small, pelagic, gelatinous invertebrate of the order Salpida (subphylum Tunicata, phylum Chordata). Found in warm seas, salps are especially common in the Southern Hemisphere. They have transparent barrel-shaped bodies that are girdled by muscle bands and open at each end. For propulsion, muscle contractions can rapidly expel jets of water from the body and drive the animals forward. They are filter feeders that consume microscopic planktonic plants and animals. The life cycle of salps is complex, with alternating sexual and asexual phases. In the latter phase, long chains of individuals are formed. Many salps are luminescent.

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