[naw-plee-uh
s] 
[-plee-ahy] . | (in many crustaceans) a larval form with three pairs of appendages and a single median eye, occurring usually as the first stage of development after leaving the egg. |
| nau·pli·us (nô'plē-əs) n. pl. nau·pli·i (-plē-ī') The free-swimming first stage of the larva of certain crustaceans, having an unsegmented body with three pairs of appendages and a single median eye. [Latin, a kind of shellfish, from Greek nauplios.] nau'pli·al (-əl) adj. |