Myctophid
noun ·Rare ·Advanced level
Definitions
- 1 Any of the small deep-sea fish of the large family Myctophidae, known for their conspicuous use of bioluminescence.
"The astronesthes, or 'eater of the stars,' so called because it feeds entirely upon other 'star-lit' fish called myctophids, is not only endowed with a number of small, luminous organs upon its body, but its fins, and the greater part of its chin-barbels, also emit a bright light."
Synonyms
All synonymsExample
More examples"The astronesthes, or 'eater of the stars,' so called because it feeds entirely upon other 'star-lit' fish called myctophids, is not only endowed with a number of small, luminous organs upon its body, but its fins, and the greater part of its chin-barbels, also emit a bright light."
Etymology
From translingual Myctophidae, from Ancient Greek μυκτήρ (muktḗr, “nose”) + ὄφις (óphis, “serpent”).
Related phrases
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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.