Scyllaea

noun

Scyl·​laea

sə̇ˈlēə

: a genus (coextensive with the family Scyllaeidae) of pelagic nudibranch mollusks that have small branched gills situated on the upper side of four fleshy lateral lobes and on a median crest on the posterior part of the back and that live among and mimic sargassum and other floating seaweeds

Word History

Etymology

New Latin, from Scylla, in Greco-Roman mythology a female monster who inhabited the rock Scylla on the Italian coast and was a menace to seafarers, from Latin, from Greek Skylla

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