‖ Salpa2 Zool.
(ˈsælpə)
Pl. salpæ; also salpas.
[mod.L. salpa (Forskål a 1763); prob. an application of class. L. salpa (see prec.), but the reason for the selection of this word does not appear.]
A genus of tunicates, the sole representative of the family Salpidæ; also, a tunicate of this genus.
| 1852 Th. Ross tr. Humboldt's Trav. I. i. 27 The genus dagysa..belongs to the salpas (biphores of Bruguière). 1854 A. Adams Man. Nat. Hist. 336 Those curious double gelatinous animals the Salpæ, which resemble two little glassy bells, one fixed to the inside of the other. 1860 H. Spencer in Westm. Rev. Jan. 102 In the Salpæ the component individuals adhere so slightly that a blow on the vessel of water in which they are floating will separate them. 1883 C. F. Holder in Harper's Mag. Dec. 107/1 The fantastic glaucus and luminous salpa, hover about in close attendance. |
Hence salˈpacean, a salpian or salp.
| 1841 Penny Cycl. XX. 366/1. |