noun
- a larval stage of certain crabs characterized by large eyes and a long abdomen
Usage: zoology
Examples
- The megalops stage occurs after the zoea stage in crab development.
- Marine biologists collected megalops larvae from the plankton samples.
- During the megalops phase, the crab larva begins to resemble an adult crab.
- The megalops eventually settles to the bottom and molts into a juvenile crab.
- Researchers studied the swimming behavior of megalops in laboratory conditions.