sea adder

• sea-adder

From sea +‎ adder. Compare Old English mere-næddra (“sea-adder, lamprey”).

sea adder (plural sea adders)

1. A European fifteen-spined stickleback, a fish of species Spinachia spinachia (syn. Gasterosteus spinachia).
2. A tanglefish, or greater pipefish (Syngnathus acus).
3. (obsolete) A sea serpent.

• “sea-adder”, in OED Online ⁠, Oxford: Oxford University Press, launched 2000.
• “sea adder”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.