ADW: Crustacea: INFORMATION

<!DOCTYPE html> <html xmlns:og="http://ogp.me/ns#" lang="en" xml:lang="en"> <head> <title>ADW: Crustacea: INFORMATION</title> <meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8" /> <link rel="canonical" href="https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Crustacea/" /> <script type="text/javascript" src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-3.6.0.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="//code.jquery.com/jquery-migrate-3.3.2.min.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript" src="/static/js/compat.js"></script> <link rel="shortcut icon" href="https://animaldiversity.org/favicon.ico" /> <link href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Gentium+Book+Basic:400,400italic,700,700italic" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link href="//fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=PT+Sans:400,700,400italic,700italic" rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/static/bootstrap/css/bootstrap.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/pica.styles.css" /> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/css/pica.print.css" media="print" />  <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="/static/colorbox/colorbox.css" /> <meta property="og:url" content="https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Crustacea/" /> <meta content="Crustacea (shrimps, crabs, lobsters, water fleas, and relatives)" property="og:title" /> <meta content="website" property="og:type" /> <meta content="Animal Diversity Web" property="og:site_name" /> <meta content="https://animaldiversity.org/collections/contributors/dale_westaby/Ovirilis2/medium.jpg" property="og:image" /> <meta name="twitter:card" content="summary" /> <meta name="twitter:site" content="@AnimalDiversity" /> <meta name="twitter:title" content="Crustacea (shrimps, crabs, lobsters, water fleas, and relatives)" /> <meta name="twitter:description" content="Read about Crustacea (shrimps, crabs, lobsters, water fleas, and relatives) on the Animal Diversity Web." /> <meta name="twitter:image:src" content="https://animaldiversity.org/collections/contributors/dale_westaby/Ovirilis2/medium.jpg" /> <meta name="twitter:image:height" content="376" /> <meta name="twitter:image:width" content="643" /> <meta name="twitter:url" content="https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Crustacea/" /> <script type="text/javascript" src="/static/js/Hyphenator.js"></script> <link rel="stylesheet" href="/static/social-likes/social-likes_birman.css" /> <style> .social-likes { margin: 0; } .social-likes__widget { margin: 0; } </style>   </head> <body> <div id="outerwrap"> <div id="header" aria-role="header"> <h1> <a id="homelink" href="/">Animal Diversity Web</a> </h1> <div class="umlinks"> <div class="relative"> <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/ummz/" id="ummzlink">University of Michigan Museum of Zoology</a> <a href="https://www.umich.edu/" id="umlink">University of Michigan</a> </div> </div> </div> <div id="wrap" class="gradient"> <div class="container-fluid"> <div class="row-fluid"> <div class="span2 sidebar left"> <ul class="nav nav-tabs nav-stacked" id="sitemap"> <li> <a href="/">Home</a> </li> <li> <a href="/about/">About Us</a> </li> <li> <a href="/animal_names/">About Animal Names</a> </li> <li> <a href="/teach/">Educational Resources</a> </li> <li> <a href="/collections/">Special Collections</a> </li> <li> <a href="/glossary/">Glossary</a> </li> <li> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/">Browse Animalia</a> </li> </ul> <h2 class="offscreen">More Information</h2> <div class="well"> <h3>Additional Information</h3> <ul class="unstyled"> <li> <a href="http://eol.org/search/?q=Crustacea&search=Go">Encyclopedia of Life</a> </li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="span7_5 blahblahblah main" aria-role="main"> <h2 class="rank-unspecified">Crustacea<span class="vernacular-name">shrimps, crabs, lobsters, water fleas, and relatives</span></h2> <div class="social-likes" data-counters="no"> <div class="facebook" title="Share link on Facebook">Facebook</div> <div class="twitter" title="Share link on Twitter">Twitter</div> </div> <div class="snapshots" aria-hidden="true"> <ul> <li> <a href="/accounts/Crustacea/pictures/collections/contributors/dale_westaby/Ovirilis2/"> <img alt=" " src="/collections/contributors/dale_westaby/Ovirilis2/button.jpg" border="0" /> </a> </li> <li> <a href="/accounts/Crustacea/pictures/collections/contributors/robert_bachand/Portunidae/82_Green_crab_C_maenas_zoea_larvae/"> <img alt=" " src="/collections/contributors/robert_bachand/Portunidae/82_Green_crab_C_maenas_zoea_larvae/button.jpg" border="0" /> </a> </li> <li> <a href="/accounts/Crustacea/pictures/collections/contributors/cynthia_parr/sept03_035/"> <img alt=" " src="/collections/contributors/cynthia_parr/sept03_035/button.jpg" border="0" /> </a> </li> <li> <a href="/accounts/Crustacea/pictures/collections/contributors/tanya_dewey/Ovirilis2/"> <img alt=" " src="/collections/contributors/tanya_dewey/Ovirilis2/button.jpg" border="0" /> </a> </li> <li> <a href="/accounts/Crustacea/pictures/collections/contributors/Grzimek_inverts/Decapoda/Procambarus_clarkii/"> <img alt=" " src="/collections/contributors/Grzimek_inverts/Decapoda/Procambarus_clarkii/button.jpg" border="0" /> </a> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="byline">By Phil Myers</div> <div class="inner-wrap"> <section class="hyphenate"> <p>Approximately 30,000 species make up this Subphylum. Most are aquatic; of these, the majority are marine but some are found in fresh water. Members of the Subphylum include lobsters, crabs, crayfish, shrimp, copepods, barnacles, and several other groups of organisms. All have two pairs of antennae, a pair of mandibles, a pair of compound eyes (usually on stalks), and two pair of maxillae on their heads, followed by a pair of appendages on each body segment (crustacean bodies usually are made up of head, thorax, and abdomen, although the segments composing these tagmata differ among different Classes). The appendages are primitively branched (biramous), and although this condition is modified in many species, adults always have at least some biramous appendages. Crustaceans respire via gills. Like other arthropods, all have a hard but flexible exoskeleton.</p> <p>Most crustaceans are free-living, but some are sessile and a few are even parasitic. Most use their maxillae and mandibles to take in food. The walking legs, including specialized chelipeds, may be used to help capture prey. Some crustaceans filter tiny plankton or even bacteria from the water; others are active predators; while still others scavenge nutrients from detritus.</p> <p>Most crustaceans are dioecious. The actual mechanisms by which fertilization is achieved vary greatly. Some crustaceans hatch young that are like miniature adults; others go through a larval stage called a nauplius.</p> <p>Many species, including lobsters, crayfish, barnacles, and crabs are important to human economies, some very much so. Others, such as krill, are at the base of extremely important marine food chains. Still others are crucial in recycling nutrients trapped in the bodies of dead organisms.</p> <hr /> <p><em>Click on the name of a Class to learn more</em> :</p> <ul class="simple"> <li>Class <a class="taxon-link" href="/accounts/Remipedia/">Remipedia</a> </li> <li>Class <a class="taxon-link" href="/accounts/Cephalocarida/">Cephalocarida</a> </li> <li>Class <a class="taxon-link" href="/accounts/Branchiopoda/">Branchiopoda</a> (fairy shrimp, water fleas, etc.)</li> <li>Class <a class="taxon-link" href="/accounts/Maxillopoda/">Maxillopoda</a> (ostracods, copepods, barnacles)</li> <li>Class <a class="taxon-link" href="/accounts/Malacostraca/">Malacostraca</a> (isopods, amphipods, krill, crabs, shrimp, etc.)</li> </ul> <hr /> <p><strong>Source</strong>:</p> <p>Hickman, C.P. and L. S. Roberts. 1994. <em>Animal Diversity</em>. Wm. C. Brown, Dubuque, IA.</p> <p>Brusca, R. C., and G. J. Brusca. <em>Invertebrates.</em> 1990. Sinauer Associates, Sunderland, MA.</p> <p>Pearse, V., J. Pearse, M. Buchsbaum, and R. Buchsbaum. 1987. <em>Living Invertebrates.</em> Blackwell Scientific Publications, Palo Alto, Ca.</p> </section> <section class="hyphenate"> <h3 id="contributors">Contributors</h3> <p>Phil Myers (author), Museum of Zoology, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor. </p> </section> </div> </div> <div class="span2_5 right sidebar"> <div class="well" id="pocket-guide-link"> <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/adw-pocket-guide/id916179421?mt=8" target="_blank"><i class="icon-download icon-white" style="vertical-align: bottom"></i> ADW Pocket Guides on the iOS App Store! </a> <p>The Animal Diversity Web team is excited to announce ADW Pocket Guides!</p> <p> <a href="/news/5009059054038197651/">Read more...</a> </p> </div> <h2 class="offscreen">Search</h2> <div id="site-search"> <form action="/search" method="GET"> <label for="q" class="offscreen">Enter search text</label> <input value="" id="q" name="q" class="span12" size="15" type="text" placeholder="Search ADW" /> <button class="btn"> <i class="icon-zoom-in"></i> <span class="offscreen">Search</span> </button> <p style="max-height: 35px"> <label for="feature-list" class="offscreen">Search in feature</label> <select size="1" name="feature" class="feature-list input-medium" id="feature-list"> <option value="INFORMATION">Taxon Information</option> <option value="COLLECTIONS">Contributor Galleries</option> <option value="TOPICS">Topics</option> <option value="CLASSIFICATION">Classification</option> </select> </p> </form> <ul class="unstyled"> <li> <a href="https://animaldiversity.ummz.umich.edu/quaardvark/">Explore Data @ Quaardvark</a> </li> <li> <a href="/search_guide/">Search Guide</a> </li> </ul> </div> <h2 class="offscreen">Navigation Links</h2> <dl class="tabbed features"> <dd class="feature-information active"> <a name="feature-information" href="/accounts/Crustacea/" class="active" id="feature-information"> Information </a> </dd> <dd class="feature-pictures"> <a name="feature-pictures" href="/accounts/Crustacea/pictures/" id="feature-pictures"> Pictures </a> </dd> <dd class="feature-specimens"> <a name="feature-specimens" href="/accounts/Crustacea/specimens/" id="feature-specimens"> Specimens </a> </dd> <dd class="feature-classification"> <a name="feature-classification" href="/accounts/Crustacea/classification/#Crustacea" id="feature-classification"> Classification </a> </dd> </dl> <div class="classification well"> <h3>Classification</h3> <ul class="unstyled"> <li> <span class="rank">Kingdom</span> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/" class="taxon-name rank-kingdom">Animalia</a> <span class="vernacular-name">animals</span> <div class="features"> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/" class="feature feature-information" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Animalia: information (1)" data-delay="250" data-total="4749">Animalia: information (1)</a> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/pictures/" class="feature feature-pictures" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Animalia: pictures (22861)" data-delay="250">Animalia: pictures (22861)</a> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/specimens/" class="feature feature-specimens" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Animalia: specimens (7109)" data-delay="250">Animalia: specimens (7109)</a> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/sounds/" class="feature feature-sounds" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Animalia: sounds (722)" data-delay="250">Animalia: sounds (722)</a> <a href="/accounts/Animalia/maps/" class="feature feature-maps" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Animalia: maps (42)" data-delay="250">Animalia: maps (42)</a> </div> </li> <li class="active"> <span class="rank">Unspecified</span> <a href="/accounts/Crustacea/" class="taxon-name rank-unspecified">Crustacea</a> <span class="vernacular-name">shrimps, crabs, lobsters, water fleas, and relatives</span> <div class="features"> <a href="/accounts/Crustacea/" class="feature feature-information" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Crustacea: information (1)" data-delay="250" data-total="76">Crustacea: information (1)</a> <a href="/accounts/Crustacea/pictures/" class="feature feature-pictures" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Crustacea: pictures (258)" data-delay="250">Crustacea: pictures (258)</a> <a href="/accounts/Crustacea/specimens/" class="feature feature-specimens" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Crustacea: specimens (7)" data-delay="250">Crustacea: specimens (7)</a> <span class="feature-off feature-sounds"></span> <span class="feature-off feature-maps"></span> </div> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="related navlist well"> <h3>Related Taxa</h3> <ul class="descendants classification unstyled"> <li> <span class="rank">Class</span> <a href="/accounts/Branchiopoda/" class="taxon-name rank-class">Branchiopoda</a> <span class="vernacular-name"></span> <div class="features"> <a href="/accounts/Branchiopoda/" class="feature feature-information" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Branchiopoda: information (1)" data-delay="250" data-total="8">Branchiopoda: information (1)</a> <a href="/accounts/Branchiopoda/pictures/" class="feature feature-pictures" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Branchiopoda: pictures (11)" data-delay="250">Branchiopoda: pictures (11)</a> <a href="/accounts/Branchiopoda/specimens/" class="feature feature-specimens" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Branchiopoda: specimens (2)" data-delay="250">Branchiopoda: specimens (2)</a> <span class="feature-off feature-sounds"></span> <span class="feature-off feature-maps"></span> </div> </li> <li> <span class="rank">Class</span> <a href="/accounts/Cephalocarida/" class="taxon-name rank-class">Cephalocarida</a> <span class="vernacular-name"></span> <div class="features"> <a href="/accounts/Cephalocarida/" class="feature feature-information" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Cephalocarida: information (1)" data-delay="250" data-total="1">Cephalocarida: information (1)</a> <span class="feature-off feature-pictures"></span> <span class="feature-off feature-specimens"></span> <span class="feature-off feature-sounds"></span> <span class="feature-off feature-maps"></span> </div> </li> <li> <span class="rank">Class</span> <a href="/accounts/Maxillopoda/" class="taxon-name rank-class">Maxillopoda</a> <span class="vernacular-name"></span> <div class="features"> <a href="/accounts/Maxillopoda/" class="feature feature-information" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Maxillopoda: information (1)" data-delay="250" data-total="65">Maxillopoda: information (1)</a> <a href="/accounts/Maxillopoda/pictures/" class="feature feature-pictures" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Maxillopoda: pictures (243)" data-delay="250">Maxillopoda: pictures (243)</a> <a href="/accounts/Maxillopoda/specimens/" class="feature feature-specimens" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Maxillopoda: specimens (5)" data-delay="250">Maxillopoda: specimens (5)</a> <span class="feature-off feature-sounds"></span> <span class="feature-off feature-maps"></span> </div> </li> <li> <span class="rank">Class</span> <a href="/accounts/Remipedia/" class="taxon-name rank-class">Remipedia</a> <span class="vernacular-name"></span> <div class="features"> <a href="/accounts/Remipedia/" class="feature feature-information" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Remipedia: information (1)" data-delay="250" data-total="1">Remipedia: information (1)</a> <a href="/accounts/Remipedia/pictures/" class="feature feature-pictures" rel="tooltip" data-original-title="Remipedia: pictures (1)" data-delay="250">Remipedia: pictures (1)</a> <span class="feature-off feature-specimens"></span> <span class="feature-off feature-sounds"></span> <span class="feature-off feature-maps"></span> </div> </li> </ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div id="footer" aria-role="contentinfo"> <div class="inner-footer"> <div class="page-citation"> <p class="content">To cite this page: Myers, P. 2001. "Crustacea" (On-line), Animal Diversity Web. Accessed November 29, 2024 at https://animaldiversity.org/accounts/Crustacea/</p> </div> <div class="disclaimer"> <p class="content"><strong>Disclaimer:</strong> The Animal Diversity Web is an educational resource <strong>written largely by and for college students</strong>. ADW doesn't cover all species in the world, nor does it include all the latest scientific information about organisms we describe. Though we edit our accounts for accuracy, we cannot guarantee all information in those accounts. While ADW staff and contributors provide references to books and websites that we believe are reputable, we cannot necessarily endorse the contents of references beyond our control. </p> </div> <div class="footer-links"> <ul class="unstyled"> <li><a href="https://www.umich.edu/">U-M Gateway</a> | <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/ummz/">U-M Museum of Zoology</a></li> <li> <a href="https://lsa.umich.edu/eeb/">U-M Ecology and Evolutionary Biology</a> </li> <li> 漏 2020 Regents of the University of Michigan </li> <li><a href="/feedback/error_form/">Report Error</a> / <a href="/feedback/comment_form/">Comment</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="thanks-links"> <p>This material is based upon work supported by the <a href="https://nsf.gov">National Science Foundation</a> Grants DRL 0089283, DRL 0628151, DUE 0633095, DRL 0918590, and DUE 1122742. Additional support has come from the Marisla Foundation, UM College of Literature, Science, and the Arts, Museum of Zoology, and Information and Technology Services. </p> <p> The ADW Team gratefully acknowledges their support. </p> </div> </div> </div> <script></script> </div> <script src="/static/js/jquery.colorbox.js"></script> <script src="/static/js/pica.information.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? 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ADW: Crustacea: INFORMATION