The

clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English ter ...

Multicrustacea constitutes the largest superclass of

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapoda, decapods, ostracoda, seed shrimp, branchiopoda, branchiopods, argulidae, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopoda, isopods, barnacles, copepods, ...

s, containing approximately four-fifths of all described crustacean species, including

crab Crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" (abdomen) ( el, βραχύς , translit=brachys = short, / = tail), usually hidden entirely under the thorax. They live in all th ...

lobster Lobsters are a family (Nephropidae, synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, including the first pair, ...

crayfish Crayfish are freshwater crustaceans belonging to the clade Astacidea, which also contains lobsters. In some locations, they are also known as crawfish, craydids, crawdaddies, crawdads, freshwater lobsters, mountain lobsters, rock lobsters, m ...

shrimp Shrimp are crustaceans (a form of shellfish) with elongated bodies and a primarily swimming mode of locomotion – most commonly Caridea and Dendrobranchiata of the decapod order, although some crustaceans outside of this order are ref ...

krill Krill are small crustaceans of the order Euphausiacea, and are found in all the world's oceans. The name "krill" comes from the Norwegian word ', meaning "small fry of fish", which is also often attributed to species of fish. Krill are consi ...

prawns Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton and ten legs (which is a member of the order decapoda), some of which can be eaten. The term "prawn"Mortenson, Philip B (2010''This is not a weasel: a close look at nature ...

woodlice A woodlouse (plural woodlice) is an isopod crustacean from the polyphyleticThe current consensus is that Oniscidea is actually triphyletic suborder Oniscidea within the order Isopoda. They get their name from often being found in old wood ...

barnacle A barnacle is a type of arthropod constituting the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosiv ...

copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthic (living on the ocean floor), a number of species have ...

amphipods Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far describ ...

mantis shrimp Mantis shrimp, or stomatopods, are carnivorous marine crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda (). Stomatopods branched off from other members of the class Malacostraca around 340 million years ago. Mantis shrimp typically grow to around in length, ...

and others. The largest branch of multicrustacea is the

class Class or The Class may refer to: Common uses not otherwise categorized * Class (biology), a taxonomic rank * Class (knowledge representation), a collection of individuals or objects * Class (philosophy), an analytical concept used differently ...

Malacostraca Malacostraca (from New Latin; ) is the largest of the six classes of crustaceans, containing about 40,000 living species, divided among 16 orders. Its members, the malacostracans, display a great diversity of body forms and include crabs, lobs ...

(see below).

Classification

Superclass Multicrustacea Regier, Shultz, Zwick, Hussey, Ball, Wetzer, Martin & Cunningham, 2010 * Family Priscansermarinidae Newman, 2004 * Class

Copepoda Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthic (living on the ocean floor), a number of species have p ...

Milne-Edwards, 1840 - Copepods ** Infra-class Neocopepoda Huys & Boxshall, 1991 *** Super-order Gymnoplea Giesbrecht, 1882 **** Order

Calanoida Calanoida is an order of copepods, a group of arthropods commonly found as zooplankton. The order includes around 46 families with about 1800 species of both marine and freshwater copepods between them. Description Calanoids can be distinguis ...

Sars GO, 1903 *** Super-order Podoplea Giesbrecht, 1882 **** Order Cyclopoida Burmeister, 1834 **** Order

Gelyelloida ''Gelyella'' is a genus of freshwater copepods which are "surrounded by mystery". They live in groundwater in karstic areas of southern France and western Switzerland. The two species are the only members of the family Gelyellidae and, although p ...

Huys, 1988 **** Order

Harpacticoida Harpacticoida is an order of copepods, in the subphylum Crustacea. This order comprises 463 genera and about 3,000 species; its members are benthic copepods found throughout the world in the marine environment (most families) and in fresh water ( ...

G. O. Sars, 1903 **** Order Misophrioida Gurney, 1933 **** Order Monstrilloida Sars, 1901 **** Order Mormonilloida Boxshall,1979 **** Order Polyarthra Lang, 1944 (=

Canuelloida Polyarthra is an order of copepods belonging to the class Copepoda. Taxonomy There are two families recognised in the order Polyarthra: * Canuellidae Canuellidae is a family of copepods Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small c ...

Khodami, Vaun MacArthur, Blanco-Bercial & Martinez Arbizu, 2017 ) **** Order Siphonostomatoida Thorell, 1859 ** Infra-class Progymnoplea Lang, 1948 *** Order Platycopioida Fosshagen, 1985 * Class

Thecostraca Thecostraca is a Class (biology), class of marine invertebrates containing over 2,200 described species. Many species have planktonic larvae which become Sessility (zoology), sessile or parasite, parasitic as adults. The most important subgroup ...

Gruvel, 1905 ** Subclass

Ascothoracida Ascothoracida is a small group of crustaceans, comprising around 100 species. They are found throughout the world, and are parasites on cnidarians and echinoderms. Ascothoracida was previously ranked as an order within the infraclass Cirripedia ...

Lacaze-Duthiers, 1880 *** Order

Dendrogastrida Dendrogastrida is an order of crustaceans belonging to the class Maxillopoda. Families: * Ascothoracidae Ascothoracidae is a family of crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals ...

Grygier, 1987 *** Order

Laurida Laurida is an order of crustacean in the infraclass Ascothoracida. It consists of the following families and genera: * Lauridae ** ''Baccalaureus'' ** '' Laura'' ** '' Polymarsypus'' ** '' Zoanthoecus'' * Petrarcidae ** '' Introcornia'' * ...

Grygier, 1987 ** Subclass

Cirripedia A barnacle is a type of arthropod constituting the subclass Cirripedia in the subphylum Crustacea, and is hence related to crabs and lobsters. Barnacles are exclusively marine, and tend to live in shallow and tidal waters, typically in erosiv ...

Burmeister, 1834 *** Infraclass

Acrothoracica The Acrothoracica are an infraclass of barnacles. Acrothoracicans bore into calcareous material such as mollusc shells, coral, crinoids or hardgrounds, producing a slit-like hole in the surface known by the trace fossil name ''Rogerella''. A ...

Gruvel, 1905 **** Order Cryptophialida Kolbasov, Newman & Hoeg, 2009 **** Order

Lithoglyptida Lithoglyptida is an order of barnacles in the class Thecostraca Thecostraca is a class of marine invertebrates containing over 2,200 described species. Many species have planktonic larvae which become sessile or parasitic as adults. The most ...

Kolbasov, Newman & Hoeg, 2009 *** Infraclass

Rhizocephala Rhizocephala are derived barnacles that parasitise mostly decapod crustaceans, but can also infest Peracarida, mantis shrimps and thoracican barnacles, and are found from the deep ocean to freshwater. Together with their sister groups Thoracic ...

Müller, 1862 *** Infraclass Thoracica Darwin, 1854 **** Superorder Phosphatothoracica Gale, 2019 ***** Order Iblomorpha Buckeridge & Newman, 2006 ***** Order Eolepadomorpha Chan et al., 2021 **** Superorder Thoracicalcarea Gale, 2015 ***** Order

Balanomorpha The Balanomorpha are an order of barnacles, containing familiar acorn barnacles of the seashore. The order contains these families: * Austrobalanidae Newman & Ross, 1976 * Balanidae Leach, 1817 (acorn barnacles) * Bathylasmatidae Newman & Ro ...

Pilsbry, 1916 ***** Order Calanticomorpha Chan et al., 2021 ***** Order Pollicipedomorpha Chan et al., 2021 ***** Order Scalpellomorpha Buckeridge & Newman, 2006 ***** Order Verrucomorpha Pilsbry, 1916 ***** Order Archaeolepadomorpha Chan et al., 2021 ***** Order Brachylepadomorpha Withers, 1923 ** Subclass

Facetotecta Facetotecta is a poorly known subclass of thecostracan crustaceans. The adult forms have never been recognised, and the group is known only from its larvae, the "y- nauplius" and "y- cyprid" larvae. They are mostly found in the north Atlantic Oc ...

Grygier, 1985 * Class

Tantulocarida Tantulocarida is a highly specialised group of parasitic crustaceans that consists of about 33 species, treated as a class in superclass Multicrustacea. They are typically ectoparasites that infest copepods, isopods, tanaids, amphipods and os ...

Boxshall & Lincoln, 1983 ** Family Basipodellidae Boxshall & Lincoln, 1983 ** Family Cumoniscidae Nierstrasz & Brender à Brandis, 1923 (= Deoterthridae Boxshall & Lincoln, 1987) ** Family Doryphallophoridae Huys, 1991 ** Family Microdajidae Boxshall & Lincoln, 1987 ** Family Onceroxenidae Huys, 1991 * Class

Latreille, 1802 ** Subclass

Eumalacostraca Eumalacostraca is a subclass of crustaceans, containing almost all living malacostracans, or about 40,000 described species. The remaining subclasses are the Phyllocarida and possibly the Hoplocarida. Eumalacostracans have 19 segments (5 cephalic ...

Grobben, 1892 *** Superorder Eucarida Calman, 1904 **** Order

Decapoda The Decapoda or decapods (literally "ten-footed") are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp and prawns. Most decapods are scavengers. The order is estim ...

Latreille, 1802 -

and

(includes former order Order Amphionidacea Williamson, 1973) **** Order Euphausiacea Dana, 1852 -

*** Superorder

Peracarida The superorder Peracarida is a large group of malacostracan crustaceans, having members in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats. They are chiefly defined by the presence of a brood pouch, or ''marsupium'', formed from thin flattened plat ...

Calman, 1904 **** Order

Amphipoda Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descri ...

Latreille, 1816 - amphipodes, gammares **** Order Bochusacea Gutu & Iliffe, 1998 **** Order

Cumacea Cumacea is an order of small marine crustaceans of the superorder Peracarida, occasionally called hooded shrimp or comma shrimp. Their unique appearance and uniform body plan makes them easy to distinguish from other crustaceans. They live in so ...

Krøyer, 1846 - cumaceae **** Order Ingolfiellida Hansen, 1903 **** Order

Isopoda Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and their relatives. Isopods live in the sea, in fresh water, or on land. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, and ...

Latreille, 1817 - isopods (including clover) **** Order

Lophogastrida Lophogastrida is an order of malacostracan crustaceans in the superorder Peracarida, comprising shrimp-like animals that mostly inhabit the relatively deep pelagic waters of the oceans throughout the world. Most lophogastridan species are lon ...

Sars, 1870 - lophogastrides **** Order Mictacea Bowman, Garner, Hessler, Iliffe & Sanders, 1985 - mictacés **** Order

Mysida Mysida is an order of small, shrimp-like crustaceans in the malacostracan superorder Peracarida. Their common name opossum shrimps stems from the presence of a brood pouch or "marsupium" in females. The fact that the larvae are reared in th ...

Haworth, 1825 - mysidacés **** Order

Pygocephalomorpha The order Pygocephalomorpha is an extinct group of peracarid crustaceans. Pygocephalomorpha were abundant from the Carboniferous until their extinction in the Permian. Families The order contains extinct five families, and seven genera ''incer ...

**** Order Spelaeogriphacea Gordon, 1957 - spelaeogriphaceae **** Order Stygiomysida Tchindonova, 1981 - stygiomysides **** Order

Tanaidacea The crustacean order Tanaidacea (known as tanaids) make up a minor group within the class Malacostraca. There are about 940 species in this order. Description Tanaids are small, shrimp-like creatures ranging from in adult size, with most specie ...

Dana, 1849 - tanaidaceae **** Order Thermosbaenacea Monod, 1927 - thermosbaenaceae *** Superorder Syncarida Packard, 1879 **** Order

Anaspidacea Anaspidacea is an order of crustaceans, comprising eleven genera in four families. Species in the family Anaspididae vary from being strict stygobionts (only living underground) to species living in lakes, streams and moorland pools, and are fo ...

Calman, 1904 **** Order Bathynellacea Chappuis, 1915 **** Order Palaeocaridacea Brooks, 1962 ** Subclass

Hoplocarida Hoplocarida is a subclass of crustaceans. The only extant members are the mantis shrimp (Stomatopoda), but two other orders existed in the Palaeozoic: Aeschronectida Aeschronectida is an extinct order of mantis shrimp-like crustacean Crus ...

Calman, 1904 *** Order

Stomatopoda Mantis shrimp, or stomatopods, are carnivorous marine crustaceans of the order Stomatopoda (). Stomatopods branched off from other members of the class Malacostraca around 340 million years ago. Mantis shrimp typically grow to around in length, ...

Latreille, 1817 - shrimps-mantes ** Subclass

Phyllocarida Phyllocarida is a subclass of crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapoda, decapods, ostracoda, seed shrimp, branchiopoda, branchiopods, argulidae, fish lice, krill, remipe ...

Packard, 1879 *** Order Archaeostraca Claus, 1888 *** Order Canadaspidida Novozhilov, 1960 *** Order Hoplostraca Schram, 1973 *** Order Hymenostraca Rolfe, 1969 *** Order Leptostraca Claus, 1880 *** Genus '' Nothozoe'' Barrande, 1872 *''Incertae sedis'' ** Order

Cyclida Cyclida (formerly Cycloidea, and so sometimes known as cycloids) is an extinct order of crab-like fossil arthropods that lived from the Carboniferous to the Cretaceous. Their classification is uncertain, but they are generally interpreted as cru ...

Notes:

Image gallery

File:Copepod.jpg,

Copepod Copepods (; meaning "oar-feet") are a group of small crustaceans found in nearly every freshwater and saltwater habitat. Some species are planktonic (inhabiting sea waters), some are benthic (living on the ocean floor), a number of species have ...

File:Sacculina carcini 5352.JPG, Sacculina ''

Sacculina carcini ''Sacculina carcini'', the crab hacker barnacle, is a species of parasitic barnacle in the family Sacculinidae, in particular a parasitic castrator, of crabs. The crab that most often is used as a host is the green crab, the natural range of w ...

'' (

) parasite of a crab. File:Entenmuscheol.jpg, Anew Lepas anatifera ( Lepadiformes) File:Barnacles in Cape Elizabeth Maine.ogv, Balth ''

Chthamalus stellatus ''Chthamalus stellatus'', common name Poli's stellate barnacle, is a species of acorn barnacle common on rocky shores in South West England, Ireland, and Southern Europe. It is named after Giuseppe Saverio Poli. Description ''C. stellatus'' is ...

'' (

Sessilia Sessilia is an unranked clade of barnacles, comprising the barnacles without stalks, or acorn barnacles. They form a monophyletic group and are probably derived from stalked or goose barnacles. Sessilia is divided into two orders. The Verrucomo ...

) File:Pollicipes polymerus 3.jpg, Inch-foot '' Pollicipes polymerus'' ( Scalpelliformes) File:Amphionides reynaudii larvae.png, '' Amphionides reynaudii'' , the unique Amphionidacea known. File:Cancer bellianus Johnston 1861 stuffed museum La Rochelle.jpg, Crab '' Cancer bellianus'' ( Eucarida) File:Antarctic krill (Euphausia superba).jpg, Antarctic Krill ''

Euphausia superba Antarctic krill (''Euphausia superba'') is a species of krill found in the Antarctic waters of the Southern Ocean. It is a small, swimming crustacean that lives in large schools, called swarms, sometimes reaching densities of 10,000–30,000 ind ...

'' ( Euphausiacea) File:Nototropis swammerdamei.jpg, '' Atylus swammerdami'' (

) File:Diastylis bradyi (female).jpg, '' Diastylis bradyi'' (

) File:Bathynomus doederleinii (dorsal).jpg, '' Bathynomus doederleinii'' (

) File:Gnathophausia zoea.jpg, ''

Gnathophausia zoea ''Gnathophausia zoea'' is a species of lophogastrid crustacean. It is widely distributed in the Atlantic Ocean from the Arctic Circle to the Equator; in the Pacific Ocean, it is more restricted to tropical areas. The adults may reach long, ex ...

'' (

) File:Mictocaris halope.jpg, ''

Mictocaris halope ''Mictocaris halope'' is the only species of cave crustacean in the monotypic genus ''Mictocaris''. It is placed in its own family, Mictocarididae, and is sometimes considered the only member of the order Mictacea. ''Mictocaris'' is endemic t ...

'' ( Mictacea) File:Gastrosaccus spinifer.jpg, '' Gastrosaccus spinifer'' (

) File:Tanaissus lilljeborgi.jpg, '' Tanaissus lilljeborgi'' (

) File:Tethysbaena ophelicola.jpg, '' Tethysbaena ophelicola'' ( Thermosbaenacea) File:Koonunga cursor.png, '' Koonunga cursor'' (

) File:Odontodactylus scyllarus Réunion.jpg, ''

Odontodactylus scyllarus ''Odontodactylus scyllarus'', commonly known as the peacock mantis shrimp, harlequin mantis shrimp, painted mantis shrimp, clown mantis shrimp or rainbow mantis shrimp, is a large stomatopod native to the epipelagic seabed across the Indo-Pacif ...

'' (

) File:Nebalia bipes.jpg, '' Nebalia bipes'' ( Leptostraca)

Taxonomic references

* World Register of Marine Species
taxon ''Multicrustacea'' Regier Shultz Zwick Hussey, Ball, Wetzer, Martin & Cunningham, 2010
( + class list+ orders list
/small>)

''Multicrustacea''
*

Animal Diversity Web Animal Diversity Web (ADW) is an online database that collects the natural history, classification, species characteristics, conservation biology, and distribution information on thousands of species of animals. The website includes thousands ...

Multicrustacea
*

Catalog of Life The Catalogue of Life is an online database that provides an index of known species of animals, plants, fungi, and microorganisms. It was created in 2001 as a partnership between the global Species 2000 and the American Integrated Taxonomic Inf ...

''Multicrustacea''
*

IUCN The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...

taxon ''Multicrustacea''

Notes and references

# ↑ World Register of Marine Species, accessed 13 April 2016 {{Taxonbar, from=Q11937877 Crustaceans