gonopod

G2O1N1O1P3O1D2

noun

A pleopod that is specialized for fertilisation in the males of some decapods.

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Meanings

noungonopod (plural gonopods)

plural gonopods

  1. biologyA pleopod that is specialized for fertilisation in the males of some decapods.
  2. biologyA clasping structure, possibly also evolved from legs, at the tip of the abdomen of some male insects.

    ...a pair of primitively two-segmented arms, the gonopods (claspers, forcipate claspers, anterior gonapophyses, pregonites, harpagones, parameres) arising posterolaterally on sternite 9...

    1981, Manual of Nearctic Diptera, volume 1, →ISBN, page 45

Origin

From gono- + -pod.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

gonopod. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gonopod

MLA

“gonopod.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gonopod. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “gonopod,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/gonopod.

Source: gonopod on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.