Most crustaceans are free-living aquatic animals, but some are terrestrial (e.g. woodlice, sandhoppers), some are parasitic (e.g. Rhizocephala, fish lice, tongue worms) and some are …

Dec 28, 2025 · crustacean, any member of the subphylum Crustacea (phylum Arthropoda), a group of invertebrate animals consisting of some 45,000 species distributed worldwide. Crabs, …

11 hours ago · The more than 50,000 crustacean species are generally divided into several major groups, including Malacostraca, Maxillopoda, and Branchiopoda. Malacostraca is the largest …

Crustaceans have evolved a variety of specialized body forms and behaviors to cope with both aquatic and terrestrial environments; however, all crustaceans share several characteristics: a …

Crustaceans (subphylum Crustacea) comprise the group of arthropods (phylum Arthropoda) that includes the familiar crabs, lobsters, shrimps, barnacles, copepods, krill, water fleas, and crayfish.

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, …

Jan 9, 2015 · The meaning of CRUSTACEAN is any of a large class (Crustacea) of mostly aquatic mandibulate arthropods that have a chitinous or calcareous and chitinous exoskeleton, …

Jan 4, 2026 · crustacean (plural crustaceans) Any arthropod of the subphylum Crustacea, including lobsters, crabs, shrimp, barnacles and woodlice, traditionally excluding hexapods.

Crustaceans include crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. They are relatives of insects. If the Arthropods are regarded as a superphylum, then the insects and crustacea …

Most crustaceans live in the ocean, and are one of the pillars of the global marine ecosystem. In much of the open ocean, the primary herbivores feeding on the phytoplankton are crustaceans.