live box

plural live boxes · alternative live-box

1. A box or pen suspended in water to keep aquatic animals alive.

   The 3 individuals which escaped joined others of their species which had been for some days living apparently unmolested against the flat bottom and sides of a large, floating live-box.

   1908, Papers, volume 2, page 302

   1 more example

   A drop of water and sediment oozes out; and when the live-box cover is put on, this drop is flattened out, and the box is set upon the stage of the microscope to be searched with a low power.

   1856, Philip Henry Gosse, Tenby: A Sea-side Holiday