The story
From acanth- (“spike”) + translingual -ella (“little one belonging to”). The first half is taken from Acanthocephala.
Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
acanthella
Today it means: A larval stage of a species of phylum Acanthocephala of worms, formed within the arthropod host, preceding the cystacanth stage which is infective to the definitive host. Full definition →