pelagian, a.2 and n.2
(pɪˈleɪdʒɪən)
[f. L. pelagi-us (see pelagial) + -an.]
A. adj.
† 1. Of or pertaining to the pelagiæ conchæ or sea shells whence purple dye was obtained. (Cf. L. pelagium purple colour.) Obs.
| 1601 Holland Pliny II. 259 The Tyrians make their deep red purple, by dipping their wool first in the liquor of the Pelagian purples. |
2. Of, pertaining to, or inhabiting the open sea or ocean; pelagic.
| 1746 Da Costa in Phil. Trans. XLIV. 400 They are no pelagian Shells, as those are; Bays and Harbours are the Places where they are fish'd. 1776 ― Conchol. 66 Some [shell-fish] are pelagian, or inhabit only the deeps of the sea. 1832 Lyell Princ. Geol. II. 126 A line of shoals may be as impassable to pelagian species, as are the Alps and the Andes to plants and animals peculiar to plains. |
b. Inhabiting islands in the open sea or ocean.
| 1842 Prichard Nat. Hist. Man (ed. 2) 346 Pelagian Negroes have long been well known as inhabitants of the interior of the Penang Islands. |
B. n. An inhabitant of the open sea or ocean.
| 1854 Badham Halieut. 75 The Mediterranean pelagians (or open sea-fish) have neither brilliancy of colour, nor delicacy of flesh. |