setae

This term is used primarily in biological and zoological contexts to describe specialized chitinous bristles. It carries a technical, scientific register and is rarely encountered in casual conversation outside of entomology or marine biology.

As a Latin-derived term, "setae" is the plural form of "seta." In scientific writing, it is common to see the singular "seta" when referring to a single bristle and "setae" when referring to the collective structures on an organism.