Velella

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Velella \Ve*lel"la\, n. [NL., dim. from L. velum a veil, a
     sail.] (Zool.)
     Any species of oceanic Siphonophora belonging to the genus
     {Velella}.
     [1913 Webster]
  


     Note: These creatures are brilliantly colored and float at
           the surface of the sea. They have an oblong, disklike
           body, supported by a thin chitinous plate, from which
           rises a thin diagonal crest which acts as a sail. The
           feeding and reproductive zooids hang down from the
           under side of the disk.
           [1913 Webster]