sea mouse

noun

1. any of several large, marine annelids of the genus Aphrodite and related genera, having a covering of long, fine, hairlike setae.

sea mouse

noun

1. any of several large polychaete worms of the genus Aphrodite and related genera, having a broad flattened body covered dorsally with a dense mat of iridescent hairlike chaetae

Word History and Origins

Origin of sea mouse¹

First recorded in 1510–20

Word History and Origins

Origin of sea mouse¹

C16: so called because of its appearance

Example Sentences

The nocturnal sea mouse, four centimeters long, is a kind of heart urchin with thin spines that can hurt a diver digging in the sand for it. 

From New York Times

Beneath the waves I chased with joyous hand Upon the bed of an imagined sand The slippery brown sea mouse, that still escaped, Where the deep cave beneath my knee was shaped.

From Project Gutenberg