A larval stage of certain bryozoans that resembles a tiny helmet or boat-shaped body before settling and forming colonies.
From Greek 'kyphe' (helmet/hollow) and 'nautes' (sailor), literally 'helmet-wearer.' The term vividly describes the larva's distinctive shape as it drifts as a plankton.
Cyphonautes larvae are less than a millimeter long and drift through the ocean like microscopic helmeted sailors, eventually finding a rock and becoming a stationary colony—a completely different lifestyle transformation!
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