whale louse

English

Noun

whale louse (plural whale lice)

  1. A parasitic amphipod crustacean of the family Cyamidae found in skin lesions, genital folds, nostrils and eyes of marine mammals of the order Cetacea, i.e. whales, dolphins and porpoises.
    • 1971 Mar, National Geographic, page 411:
      Crablike whale lice dig deeply into sores and cuts.

Synonyms

Translations
This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.