Zool. [f. as prec. + -ger bearing. Cf. L. vēliger sail-bearing.] A molluskan larva furnished with a velum or ciliated swimming-membrane. Also attrib.
1877. Huxley, Anat. Inv. Anim., viii. 497. In the great majority of the Odontophora, the young leaves the egg as a veliger very similar to that of the Lamellibranchiata.
1878. F. J. Bell, Gegenbaur’s Comp. Anat., 319. The Veliger stage is not always developed.
1883. Encycl. Brit., XVI. 654/2. In development they pass through the typical trochosphere and veliger stages provided with boat-like shell.
