Home › Words › P › pteropodpteropodpteropod · noun — any of free-swimming pelagic sea snails and sea slugs, of the suborder Thecosomata, that have winglike lobes on the feet; a sea butterfly.Definition from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).EtymologyFrom Ancient Greek πτερόν (pterón, “a wing, a feather”) + ποδός (podós), genitive singular of πούς (poús, “a foot, a leg”). Equivalent to ptero- + -pod.nounAny of free-swimming pelagic sea snails and sea slugs, of the suborder Thecosomata, that have winglike lobes on the feet; a sea butterfly.e.g.“Pteropods, also known as sea butterflies, are marine gastropods adapted to pelagic life.[…]When pteropods constitute a high percentage of the ooze the deposit is called pteropod ooze.” — 1998, Yvonne Herman, “5: Pteropods”, in B.U. Haq, A. Boersma, editors, Introduction to Marine Micropaleontology, page 151:Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).