tardigrade

an arthropod of the division Tardigrada

• arthropod — invertebrate having jointed limbs and a segmented body with an exoskeleton made of chitin

• stylet — small needle-like appendage; especially the feeding organ of a tardigrade

• Tardigrada, class Tardigrada — in some classifications considered a separate phylum: microscopic arachnid-like invertebrates living in water or damp moss having 4 pairs of legs and instead of a mouth a pair of stylets or needle-like piercing organs connected with the pharynx