Meanings
nounsea butterfly (plural sea butterflies)
plural sea butterflies
- Any of the suborder Thecosomata of small pelagic sea snails.
Sea butterflies are pteropods: sea snails that swim by flapping pad-like ‘feet’ which have grown into wings.
2012, Caspar Henderson, The Book of Barely Imagined Beings, Granta Books, published 2013, page 284Synonyms: pteropod
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAny of the suborder Thecosomata of small pelagic sea snails.
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Also see
Translations
German Seeschmetterling
- SeeschmetterlingThecosomata
Icelandic vængjasnigill
- vængjasnigillThecosomata
Polish motyl morski
- motyl morskiThecosomata
Cite this entry
APA
sea butterfly. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 5, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sea%20butterfly
MLA
“sea butterfly.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sea%20butterfly. Accessed November 5, 2026.
Chicago
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “sea butterfly,” accessed November 5, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/sea%20butterfly.
Source: sea butterfly on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.