Animal Life

Order Cladocera

Cladocera (Water fleas) Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Crustacea Class Branchiopoda Number of families 15 Thumbnail description Small transparent zooplankton found in bodies of freshwater throughout the world; a few species inhabit marine waters Photo: Photomicrograph of a gravid female water flea (Daphnia magna) carrying eggs. Evolution and Systematics Cladocerans remain well-preserved in aquatic sediments because their […]

Class MALACOSTRACA

Subclass EUMALACOSTRACA

Subclass Phyllocarida

Phyllocarida (Leptostracans) Subphylum Arthropoda Class Malacostraca Number of families 3 Thumbnail description Small crustaceans with a laterally flattened carapace enclosing the bases of the thoracopods (legs), a hinged rostrum covering stalked eyes, and a tapering abdomen ending in a forked tail Illustration: Levinebelia maria. Evolution and systematics Only one fossil leptostracan has been recognized in […]

Order Stomatopoda

Stomatopoda (Mantis shrimps) Phylum Anthropoda Subphylum Crustacea Class Malacostraca Number of families 17 Thumbnail description Predatory, shrimplike crustaceans with acute vision and complex behavior that subdue prey and defend themselves by means of specialized forelimbs modified with stabbing spines or heavily calcified “elbows” used as clubs Photo: Orange mantis shrimps (Lysiosquilla sp.) live in burrows […]

Order Bathynellacea

Bathynellacea (Bathynellaceans) Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Crustacea Class Malacostraca Number of families 2 Thumbnail description Small, worm-like, blind Crustacea with head, thorax, and abdomen. Thorax with seven pairs of walking legs and a reduced eighth one, which in the male is transformed for copulatory purposes. Abdomen with one pair of appendages on the last segment, one […]

Order Anaspidacea

Anaspidacea (Anaspidaceans) Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Crustacea Class Malacostraca Number of families 4 Thumbnail description These crustaceans do not have a carapace, one thoracic somite is incorporated into the head, with its appendages modified as maxillipeds, and the remaining thoracic legs have both epipods and exopods Illustration: Anaspides tasmaniae. Evolution and systematics The order Anaspidacea contains […]

Order Euphausiacea

Euphausiacea (Krill) Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Crustacea Class Malacostraca Number of families 2 Thumbnail description Small marine crustaceans known as “krill” that are found in all the world’s oceans and are critical to the marine ecosystem, providing a link between plankton and larger species in the food chain Photo: Krill (Euphausia superba) cooked by thermal water […]

Order Amphionidacea

Amphionidacea (Amphionids) Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Crustacea Class Malacostraca Number of families 1 Thumbnail description Single-species order of small crustaceans with carapace covering head and thorax; females carry developing eggs in a brood chamber; development is multi-staged and complex Illustration: Amphionides reynaudii. Evolution and systematics Amphionids have been studied very little, and as a result, the […]

Order Decapoda

Decapoda (Crabs, shrimps, and lobsters) Phylum Arthropoda Subphylum Crustacea Class Malacostraca Thumbnail description Crustaceans with a large carapace covering the head and thorax and enveloping the gill chambers; also possess five pairs of legs Number of families 151 Photo: The bubble coral shrimp (Vir philippinen-sis) is very widespread throughout Indo-Pacific waters. This species is always […]

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