sea spider

noun

: any of various small long-legged marine arthropods (class Pycnogonida) that superficially resemble spiders

Examples of sea spider in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web But despite how prevalent sea spiders are, many researchers say the species is largely understudied. Eric Lagatta, USA TODAY, 20 Feb. 2024 Living in the frigid waters off the coast of Antarctica, the giant sea spider has hatched its young in secrecy for over 140 years. Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 21 Feb. 2024 This reproduction strategy was unlike that exhibited by the majority of sea spiders. Brendan Rascius, Miami Herald, 21 Feb. 2024 Most notable among them was Charles Wyville Thomson, a Scotsman who in the 1860s hauled up glass sponges, sea spiders, and other curiosities—thus debunking a theory that the deep ocean was lifeless. Amy Brady, Scientific American, 20 June 2023 Now, the eight-legged sea spider Pycnogonum litorale — think of a marine creature related to terrestrial arachnids like spiders, scorpions and mites — has shown that anthropods can recover entire parts of their body, too. Sofia Quaglia, Discover Magazine, 6 Feb. 2023 In the study, scientists genetically sequenced all living sea spider families (spanning 89 species, all distantly related to land spiders) to create the first comprehensive family tree. Raleigh McElvery, Science | AAAS, 15 Sep. 2020 On the Beagle’s second voyage to Tierra del Fuego, in 1832, Charles Darwin was amazed at the variety of life found in the sea off the relatively barren archipelago: snails, starfish, sea spiders, and fish abounded in rafts of seaweed. Lucy Jakub, Harper's magazine, 2 Mar. 2020 Looking at the genomic sequencing of 53 species of arachnids, horseshoe crabs and sea spiders, Ballesteros' team found overwhelming data putting Xiphosura within the anarchid family. David Grossman, Popular Mechanics, 28 Feb. 2019

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'sea spider.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1855, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of sea spider was in 1855

Dictionary Entries Near sea spider

Cite this Entry

“Sea spider.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sea%20spider. Accessed 5 Nov. 2024.

More from Merriam-Webster on sea spider

Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!