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pycnogonida

(Science: zoology) A class of marine arthropods in which the body is small and thin, and the eight legs usually very long.

Synonym: pantopoda.

The abdomen is rudimentary, and the triangular mouth is at the end of a tubular proboscis. Many of them live at great depths in the sea, and the largest of them measure two feet across the extended legs.

Origin: NL, fr. Gr. Thick crowded _ knee.