larva

noun

Fish: A young fish which at birth or hatching is fundamentally unlike its parent and must pass through metamorphosis before assuming adult characters.
Insects: The caterpillar; the long, worm-like stage of the butterfly or moth. It often has an interesting pattern of stripes or patches, and it may have spine-like hairs. It is the feeding and growth stage. As it grows, it sheds its skin four or more times so as to enclose its rapidly growing body. plural: larvae