crustacean

/kru stay"sheuhn/, n.

1. any chiefly aquatic arthropod of the class Crustacea, typically having the body covered with a hard shell or crust, including the lobsters, shrimps, crabs, barnacles, and wood lice.

adj.

2. belonging or pertaining to the crustaceans.

[1825-35; < NL Crustace(a) (neut. pl.) hard-shelled ones (see CRUST, -ACEA) + -AN]

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Any member of the 45,000 arthropod species in the subphylum Crustacea.

Distributed worldwide, crustaceans are distinguished by having two pairs of antenna-like appendages in front of the mouth and other paired appendages near the mouth that act like jaws. Most species are marine, including shrimps and barnacles. Some, including crayfishes, live in freshwater habitats; others (e.g., sand fleas, land crabs, and sow bugs) live in moist terrestrial environments. The typical adult body is composed of a series of segments (somites) either fused or linked to each other by flexible areas that form movable joints. The carapace (shell) varies in thickness among species and must be periodically molted to allow growth. Many species of marine crustaceans are scavengers, and many (including copepods and krill) are significant components of the diets of larger organisms. See also decapod.

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▪ arthropod

Introduction

 any member of the subphylum Crustacea (phylum Arthropoda), a group of invertebrate animals consisting of some 45,000 species distributed worldwide. Crabs, lobsters, shrimps, and wood lice are among the best-known crustaceans, but the group also includes an enormous variety of other forms without popular names. Crustaceans are generally aquatic and differ from other arthropods in having two pairs of appendages (antennules and antennae) in front of the mouth and paired appendages near the mouth that function as jaws. Because there are many exceptions to the basic features, however, a satisfactory inclusive definition of all the Crustacea is extraordinarily hard to frame.

General features

Size range and diversity of structure

      The largest crustaceans belong to the Decapoda (decapod), a large order (about 10,000 species) that includes the American lobster, which can reach a weight of 20 kilograms (44 pounds), and the giant Japanese spider crab (giant crab), which has legs that can span up to 3.7 metres (12 feet). At the other end of the scale, some of the water fleas (class Branchiopoda), such as Alonella, reach lengths of less than 0.25 millimetre (0.009 inch), and many members of the subclass Copepoda are less than one millimetre in length. The range of structure is reflected in the complex classification of the group. Some of the parasitic forms are so modified and specialized as adults that they can only be recognized as crustaceans by features of their life histories.

Distribution and abundance

      Crustaceans are found mainly in water. Different species are found in freshwater, seawater, and even inland brines, which may have several times the salt concentration of seawater. Various species have occupied almost every conceivable niche within the aquatic environment. An enormous abundance of free-swimming (planktonic) species occupies the open waters of lakes and oceans. Other species live at the bottom of the sea, where they may crawl over the sediment or burrow into it. Different species are found in rocky, sandy, and muddy areas. Some species are so small that they live in the spaces between sand grains. Others tunnel in the fronds of seaweeds or into man-made wooden structures. Some members of the orders Isopoda and Amphipoda extend down to the greatest depths in the sea and have been found in oceanic trenches at depths of up to 10,000 metres. Crustaceans colonize lakes and rivers throughout the world, even high mountain lakes at altitudes of 5,000 metres. They range widely in latitude as well: in the high Arctic some crustaceans use the short summer to develop quickly through a generation, leaving dormant stages to overwinter.

      A number of crabs (crab) are amphibious, being capable of leaving the water to scavenge on land. Some, like the ghost crabs (ghost crab) (Ocypode), can run at great speed across tropical beaches. One of the mangrove crabs, Aratus, can climb trees. Some crabs spend so much time away from the water that they are known as land crabs; however, these crustaceans must return to the water when their larvae are ready to hatch. The most terrestrial of the Crustacea are the wood lice (wood louse) (order Isopoda, family Oniscoidea); most live in damp places, although a few isopod species can survive in deserts. In addition to these well-adapted groups, occasional representatives of other groups have become at least semiterrestrial. Amphipods (amphipod), members of the subclasses Copepoda and Ostracoda, and the order Anomopoda have been found among damp leaves on forest floors, particularly in the tropics.

Importance to humans

      The crustaceans of most obvious importance to humans are the larger species, chiefly decapods. Fisheries in many parts of the world capture shrimps, prawns, spiny lobsters, and the king crab (Paralithodes) of the northern Pacific and its southern counterpart, the centolla, found off the coast of Chile. Many species of true crabs—such as the blue crab, Dungeness crab, and the stone crab, all in North America, and the edible crab of Europe—are valuable sources of food. The most highly prized decapod is probably the true lobster (Homarus species), although overfishing since the early 20th century has greatly diminished the catches of both the North American and the European species. Freshwater crustaceans include crayfish and some river prawns and river crabs. Many species have only local market value. It is probable that no crustaceans are poisonous unless they have been feeding on the leaves or fruits of poisonous plants.

      Another crustacean, the large acorn shell (Balanus psittacus), a barnacle (order Cirripedia) measuring up to 27 centimetres (11 inches) in length, is regarded as a delicacy in South America, and a stalked barnacle (Mitella pollicipes) is eaten in parts of France and Spain. In Japan, barnacles are allowed to settle and grow on bamboo stakes, later to be scraped off and crushed for use as fertilizer.

      Copepods and krill are important components of most marine food webs. Planktonic (i.e., drifting) copepods, such as Calanus, and members of the order Euphausiacea (euphausiids), or krill, may be present in such great numbers that they discolour large areas of the open sea, thus indicating to fishermen where shoals of herring and mackerel are likely to be found.

      The water flea (Daphnia magna) and the brine shrimp (Artemia salina) are used as fish food in aquariums and fish ponds, and the larvae of the latter are widely used as food for the larvae of larger crustaceans reared in captivity. Ostracods, of which numerous fossil and subfossil species are known, are important to geologists and oil prospectors.

      Much damage may be done to rice paddies by burrowing crabs of various species and by the mud-eating, shrimplike Thalassina of Malaya. By undermining paddy embankments, they allow water to drain away, thus exposing the roots of the plants to the sun; if near the coast, salt water may thus be allowed to seep into the paddies. Tadpole shrimps (Triops) are often numerous in rice fields, where they stir up the fine silt in search of food, killing many of the plants. Land crabs and crayfish may damage tomato and cotton crops.

Natural history

Reproduction and life cycles

      The sexes are normally, but not always, separate in crustaceans. Most individual barnacles have both male and female reproductive organs (simultaneous hermaphroditism), and in some groups the males, when present, are much smaller than the hermaphrodites. These “dwarf” males attach themselves to the interior of the mantle cavity of the larger individuals and fertilize their eggs. Some of the members of the order Notostraca (tadpole shrimps) are also hermaphrodites; their ovaries contain scattered sperm-producing lobes among the developing eggs. A change of sex during the life of an individual is a regular feature in some shrimps. In Pandalus montagui, of the order Decapoda, for example, some individuals begin life as males but change into functional females after about 13 months. Isopods of the genus Rhyscotoides show a similar change from male to female as they grow older.

      Characteristic differences in structure or behaviour between the sexes are widespread in the Crustacea and can be extreme; the males of some groups may be so small that they are difficult to find on the much larger female. This is especially true in some of the parasitic copepods. In Gonophysema gullmarensis the male is found in a small pouch in the female genital tract. In many of the more advanced decapods, such as crabs and lobsters, however, the males are larger than the females and may have much larger pincers. Another example of sexual dimorphism is the possession by the male of clasping organs, which are used to hold the female during mating. Almost any appendage can be found modified for this purpose. Male appendages also can be modified to aid directly in transferring sperm to the female. Frequently the sperm are enclosed in a case, or spermatophore. The first and second abdominal appendages of male decapods are used to transfer spermatophores, as are the highly modified fifth legs of male copepods of the order Calanoida. These copepods can accurately place spermatophores near the openings of the female ducts. The contents of the spermatophores are extruded by a swelling of special sperm, which force out the sperm that soon fertilize the eggs.

      Normal sexual reproduction involves the fusion of a sperm with an egg, but some crustaceans are parthenogenetic (parthenogenesis); that is, they produce eggs that develop without being fertilized by a sperm. Many branchiopods can do this, as can some ostracods and some isopods.

      Females of some crustacean species release their eggs freely into the water—for example, certain copepods, such as Calanus, and some members of the malacostracan orders Bathynellacea, Anaspidacea, and Euphausiacea. Some euphausiids and Nebalia (of the malacostracan order Leptostraca) carry their eggs between the thoracic limbs. Most decapods carry their eggs attached to the abdominal appendages; special egg-containing setae secrete a cement that flows over the eggs and binds them to the setae. Most of the superorder Peracarida, some isopods, such as Sphaeroma, many branchiopods, the Notostraca, and the order Anostraca have a brood pouch on or behind the limbs that is often formed by the carapace. Those free-living copepods that do not cast their eggs freely into the water carry them in one or two thin-walled sacs suspended from the front of the abdomen. Some parasitic copepods produce up to six or eight egg sacs, while others produce the eggs in long strings, which may coil into a tangled mass.

      The most widespread and typical crustacean larva to emerge from the egg is called a nauplius. The main features of a nauplius are a simple, unsegmented body, three pairs of appendages (antennules, antennae, and mandibles), and a single, simple, “naupliar” eye. Nauplius larvae are found in the life cycles of cirripedes, ostracods, branchiopods, copepods, euphausiids, the decapod peneid prawns, and members of the subclass Thecostraca. Many of the other groups pass through embryonic stages like the nauplius, or they have larvae with some similarities to the nauplius.

      The most primitive type of development from a nauplius is found in the anostracan fairy shrimps, where the young animal gradually adds new segments and appendages as it undergoes a long series of molts. In the free-living copepods the nauplius goes through five molts and then changes into a copepodid, which resembles the adult except that it does not have a full complement of limbs. These limbs gradually develop over another five molts; once the adult form is reached, the copepod does not molt again. The cirripede (barnacle) nauplius molts several times and then metamorphoses into a cyprid, which has a two-part carapace enclosing six pairs of trunk limbs that are used for swimming. The cyprid eventually attaches to a solid object and then metamorphoses into an adult. During this process, the cyprid's swimming legs become the filtering appendages of the adult. Larval ostracods are basically nauplii with a bivalved carapace. The euphausiid nauplius is followed by a complex series of shrimplike larvae.

      The nauplius of the peneid prawns (prawn) is followed by a sequence of larval forms characterized by their methods of locomotion: the advanced nauplius still swims with its antennae, the protozoea also uses its antennae but has developed a small carapace and some thoracic limbs, the zoea uses its thoracic limbs for swimming, and the postlarval stages use the abdominal appendages. Most decapods omit the nauplius stage and hatch as zoeae, which may be heavily ornamented with spines. The crab zoea eventually changes into a megalops, which resembles a small crab with its tail extended behind it.

      Some crustaceans bypass the free-living larval stages, and the young emerging from the eggs resemble the adults. This occurs within the branchiopod order Anomopoda, as in Daphnia, in most isopods and amphipods, and in some decapods, including freshwater crabs and crayfish and some deep-sea and Arctic groups.

Ecology

      Crustaceans play many roles in aquatic ecosystems. The planktonic forms—such as the copepod Calanus and the krill Euphausia—graze on the microscopic plants floating in the sea and in turn are eaten by fishes, seabirds, and whales. Benthic (bottom-dwelling) crustaceans are a food source for fish, and some whales feed extensively on benthic amphipods. Crabs are important predators, and the continuing struggle between them and their prey prompts the evolution of newer adaptations: the massive and often highly ornamented shells of many marine mollusks are thought to be a protective response to the predatory activities of crabs; in turn the crabs develop larger and more powerful pincers.

      Crustaceans also can be parasites (parasitism), and some copepod species in particular parasitize other aquatic animals ranging from whales to sea anemones. The larger crustaceans are often parasitized by smaller crustaceans; for example, there are parasitic isopods that dwell in the gill chambers of decapod prawns. Freshwater crustaceans can serve as intermediate hosts for the lung fluke, Paragonimus (a flatworm, phylum Platyhelminthes).

Form and function of external features

General features

      Although crustaceans exhibit a great variety of forms, the basic crustacean body consists of a number of segments, or somites. These somites sometimes are fused to form rigid areas and sometimes are free, linked to each other by flexible areas that allow some movement. Each somite has the potential for bearing a pair of appendages, although in various crustacean groups appendages are missing from certain somites. The appendages are also jointed with flexible articulations.

      At the front, or anterior end, of the body there is an unsegmented, presegmental region called the acron. In most crustaceans at least four somites fuse with the acron to form the head. At the posterior end of the body there is another unsegmented region, the telson, that may bear two processes, or rami, which together form the furca. These two processes at the tail end of the body vary greatly in form; in many crustaceans they are short, but in some they may be as long as the rest of the body. The Crustacea as a whole shows great variation in the number of somites and the amount of fusion that has taken place. In the class Malacostraca (malacostracan), which includes the decapods, there is a consistent body plan: the trunk (which follows the head) is divided into two distinct regions, an anterior thorax of eight somites and a posterior abdomen of seven somites, although as a rule only six are evident in the adult. The reproductive ducts of male malacostracans typically open on the last thoracic somite, and the female reproductive ducts open on the sixth thoracic segment.

      The carapace is a widespread crustacean feature, arising during development as a fold from the last somite at the back of the head. It may form a broad fold extending toward the rear over the back, or dorsal surface, of the trunk, as in the notostracan tadpole shrimps, but it often encloses the entire trunk, including limbs and gills. In the clam shrimps (orders Spinicaudata and Laevicaudata) and the ostracods, the carapace is split into two “valves,” giving the animals a clamlike appearance. In many decapods the carapace projects forward to form a rostrum, which is often sharply pointed and toothed. The carapace is absent from the anostracans, amphipods, isopods, and members of the superorder Syncarida. Barnacles attach permanently to hard surfaces and use their highly modified carapace to form a mantle. The mantle secretes the barnacle's characteristic calcium carbonate shell plates.

Appendages

      There is great diversity among crustacean appendages, but it is thought that all the different types have been derived either from the multibranched (multiramous) limb of the class Cephalocarida or from the double-branched (biramous) limb of the class Remipedia. A biramous limb typically has a basal part, or protopodite, bearing two branches, an inner endopodite and an outer exopodite. The protopodite can vary greatly in its development and may have additional lobes on both its inner and outer margin, called, respectively, endites and exites. The walking legs of many malacostracans have become uniramous by failing to develop the exopodite.

      Variations in appendage sequence and morphology largely define different crustacean groups. If one starts at the head of a crustacean and works toward the rear, the following appendages are generally encountered: antennae 1, or antennules; antennae 2, or antennae proper; mandibles; maxillae 1, or maxillulae; maxillae 2, or maxillae proper; and a variable number of trunk limbs. The trunk limbs all may be similar, as in the anostracans and the classes Cephalocarida and Remipedia, or they may be differentiated into distinct groups. In the copepods the first pair of trunk limbs is used for food collection. These limbs are called maxillipeds. In the decapods there are three sets of paired maxillipeds. In the copepods the maxillipeds are followed by four pairs of swimming legs; a fifth pair is sometimes highly modified for reproductive purposes and is sometimes reduced to a mere vestige. Behind the decapod maxillipeds there are five pairs of thoracic limbs, a variable number of which may bear pincers, or chelae. In crabs there is a single obvious pair of chelae, but in some of the prawns there may be up to three pairs of less conspicuous pincers. The decapod abdomen normally bears six pairs of biramous appendages, which are used in swimming in many shrimps and prawns, while in the crabs and crayfish the first two pairs in the male are modified to help in sperm transfer during mating. The last pair of abdominal limbs is frequently different from the others and is called the uropods. In shrimps and lobsters the uropods together with the telson form a tail fan.

      The appendages change both their form and their function during the life cycles of most crustaceans. In most adults the antennules and antennae are sensory organs, but in the nauplius larva the antennae often are used for both swimming and feeding. Processes at the base of the antennae can help the mandibles push food into the mouth. The mandibles of a nauplius have two branches with a chewing or compressing lobe at the base; they also may be used for swimming. In the adult the mandible loses one of the branches, sometimes retaining the other as a palp, and the base can develop into a powerful jaw. An alternative development is found in some of the blood-sucking parasites, in which the mandibles form needlelike stylets for piercing their hosts.

exoskeleton

      The outer covering of crustaceans is variously called the integument, cuticle, or exoskeleton. It protects the body and provides attachment sites for muscles. The thickness of the cuticle can vary from a thin, flexible membrane, as in some parasitic copepods, to a massive rigid shell, as in crabs. The cuticle is secreted by a single layer of cells called the epidermis. The outermost layer, or epicuticle, lacks the chitin present in the thicker innermost layers, or procuticle. The procuticle is made up of layers of chitin fibres intermeshed with proteins and, in many species, with calcium salts.

      A typical crustacean grows in a series of stages, or molts (molt). The hard exoskeleton prevents any increase in size except immediately after molting. The sequence of events during molting can be divided into four main stages: (1) Proecdysis, or premolt, is the period during which calcium is resorbed from the old exoskeleton into the blood. The epidermis separates from the old exoskeleton, new setae form, and a new exoskeleton is secreted. (2) Ecdysis, or the actual shedding of the old exoskeleton, takes place when the old exoskeleton splits along preformed lines. In the lobster it splits between the carapace and the abdomen, and the body is withdrawn through the hole, leaving the old exoskeleton almost intact. In isopods the exoskeleton is cast in two parts; the front portion may be cast several days after the hind part. Immediately after ecdysis the crustacean swells from a rapid intake of water. (3) Metecdysis, or postmolt, is the stage in which the soft cuticle gradually hardens and becomes calcified. At the end of this stage the cuticle is complete. (4) Intermolt is a period of variable duration, from a few days in small forms to a year or more in some of the large forms. Some crustaceans, after passing through a series of molts, reach a stage where they do not molt again; this is called a terminal anecdysis. The molting process is under hormonal control.

Form and function of internal features

The nervous system

      The crustacean nervous system consists basically of a brain, or supraesophageal ganglion, connected to a ventral nerve cord of ganglia, or nerve centres. In primitive forms, like the anostracan fairy shrimps (fairy shrimp), the brain has nerve connections with the eyes and antennules, but the nerves to the antennae come from the connecting ring around the esophagus. In more advanced forms the antennal nerves originate in the brain. The first ventral nerve centre under the esophagus (subesophageal ganglion) is usually formed by the fusion of the ganglia from the mandibular, maxillulary, and maxillary segments, but other ganglia may be incorporated. Often there is a chain of ganglia extending the length of the trunk, but in short-bodied forms, such as barnacles and crabs, all the ventral ganglia may fuse into a single mass during development.

      The most conspicuous sense organs are the compound eyes, which are very similar to those of flies and other insects. In a typical decapod each eye consists of several hundred tubular units radiating from the end of an optic nerve. Each of these units is a miniature eye, with a central optical tract isolated from the others by two groups of pigment cells. These pigment cells can expand and contract to cover varying amounts of each tubular eye, enabling the eyes to be used over a range of light intensities. The image obtained with such an eye is a mosaic, but there is evidence from the behaviour of the advanced crabs that they perceive a good image and that they can detect small movements. Single median eyes are also found in crustaceans, particularly in the nauplius larvae. Only three or four simple units are usually found in the nauplius eye, which is innervated by a median nerve from the forebrain. The median eye also may persist through to the adult stage. Among copepods the median eye is the only eye, but in some groups it may persist even when the compound eyes have developed.

      Other physical and chemical stimuli are detected by means of various setae, or hairlike processes, that project from the surface of the exoskeleton and are connected to a nerve supply. Some setae are tactile, detecting contact and movement when deflected. Other setae are used in association with statocysts. Statocysts are paired organs, located at the base of the antennules in decapods or at the base of the uropods in mysids, that enable the crustacean to orient itself with respect to gravity. Each statocyst is a rounded sac containing one or more small granules, called statoliths, that rest on numerous small setae. Any change in orientation causes the statoliths to impinge on the setae at a different angle, and this information is relayed to the brain so that corrective action can be taken. Finally, other setae are chemosensory; they detect a wide range of chemical substances. Such setae are usually tubular and thin-walled, sometimes with a small pore at the top. They are especially abundant on the antennules and mouthparts.

The digestive system (digestive system, invertebrate)

      The gut (alimentary canal) (digestive tract) is usually direct in its passage through the body and is coiled in only a few water fleas of the order Anomopoda. The foregut shows the greatest range of structure; in some crustacean species it is a simple tube, but in decapods it reaches great complexity in forming a chitinized structure called the gastric mill. This consists of a series of calcified plates, or ossicles, that are moved against each other by powerful muscles, making an efficient grinding apparatus. The junction between the mill and the midgut is guarded by a filter of setae, which prevent particles from passing into the midgut until they have been degraded into a sufficiently small size. The structure of the midgut is also variable among species but generally has one or more diverticula, or pouches, which are involved in various digestive processes. These diverticula may be simple, as in Daphnia, or complex and glandular, as in the decapods. The hindgut is usually relatively short and lined with cuticle. The exit is controlled by a muscular anus, which in some forms had dilator muscles that control anal swallowing.

The excretory system (renal system)

      Two different excretory organs are found among crustaceans: the antennal gland and the maxillary gland. Both have the same basic structure: an end sac and a convoluted duct that may expand into a bladder before opening to the outside. In most adult crustaceans only one or the other gland functions. The functional gland may change during the life cycle.

      The antennal and maxillary glands primarily regulate ionic balance. The total balance of salts and water is also controlled in part by the gut, which can absorb both. The antennal gland also has been shown to reabsorb glucose. Most crustaceans excrete the end product of nitrogen metabolism, in the form of ammonia, through the gills. Some of the more terrestrial forms produce urea or uric acid, which are far less toxic than ammonia. Urea and uric acid may be stored in special large cells near the bases of the legs or excreted without the loss of much water.

The respiratory system

      Many of the smaller crustaceans, such as the copepods, have no special respiratory organs. Gas exchange takes place through the entire thin integument. The inner wall of the carapace, facing the trunk, is often rich with blood vessels and may in many groups be the only respiratory organ. Gills (gill), when present, are formed by modifications of parts of appendages, most often the epipodites. These thin-walled, lamellate structures are present on some or all of the thoracic appendages in cephalocarids, fairy shrimps, and many malacostracans. In mantis shrimps (order Stomatopoda), for example, gills are found on the exopodites of the pleopods. In euphausiids the single series of branched epipodial gills are fully exposed. In decapods the gills, protected by the overhanging carapace, are arranged in three series at or near the limb bases. As an adaptation to aerial respiration, the branchial chambers are greatly enlarged in certain land crabs and serve as lungs, the inner membrane being richly supplied with blood vessels. In isopods the respiratory function has been taken over by the abdominal appendages; either both rami or the endopodite become thin and flattened. Most sow bugs and pill bugs have, in addition, trachea-like infoldings in some of the exopodites.

The circulatory system

      As in other arthropods, the blood flows in sinuses, or channels, without definite walls. Cirripedes and many ostracods and copepods have no heart, the blood being kept in motion by either a blood pump or rhythmic movements of the body, gut, or appendages. When present, the heart lies in a blood sinus, or pericardium, with which it communicates by paired valvular openings, or ostia. In the more primitive crustaceans, such as fairy shrimps or stomatopods, the heart is a long tube, with spiral muscles in its wall, and extends almost the entire length of the trunk; there is a pair of ostia in each somite except the last. In more-advanced crustaceans, however, the heart may be shortened, and the number of ostia may be reduced to three pairs or less. The position of the heart depends on that of the respiratory organs; it usually lies in the thorax or cephalothorax but is mainly in the abdomen of isopods. Malacostracans have a well-developed system of elastic-walled arteries, including an anterior and usually a posterior aorta.

      The red respiratory, or oxygen-carrying, pigment hemoglobin has been observed in the blood of branchiopods and in the members of other classes except Malacostraca. Hemocyanin, which contains copper rather than iron, is the respiratory pigment in the malacostracan decapods and stomatopods.

Hormones (hormone)

      Hormones are substances produced in one part of the body that act on cells in some other part of the body. The secretory system that produces these substances is known as the endocrine system. Most of the information about crustacean hormones has been obtained from studies on decapods, but a fair amount is also known about the hormones of the isopods and amphipods.

      The X-organ–sinus-gland complex is located in the eyestalk. The X-organ passes its secretions to the sinus gland, which acts as a release centre into the blood. Hormones liberated from the sinus gland have been shown to influence molting, gonad development, water balance, blood glucose, and the expansion and contraction of pigment cells both in the general body and in the retina of the eye. The Y-organs lie in the maxillary segment of decapods and are the source of molting hormones, or ecdysteroids, which promote molting and interact with molt-inhibiting hormones from the X-organ.

      The brain and thoracic nerve centres produce hormones that promote the development of the sex (sex hormone) organs. In addition, certain glands attached to the male reproductive ducts control the development of the male reproductive system; their removal from a young male will cause it to develop into a female. The female ovary also acts as an endocrine organ; its endocrine secretions control the development of the female reproductive system. The brood pouch in both amphipods and isopods also develops under the influence of ovarian secretions. A hormonal system controls the beating of the heart. Nerves from the thoracic centres end in fine secretory fibres in the membrane enclosing the space around the heart (pericardium) and secrete substances that typically produce an increase in both frequency and amplitude of the heartbeat.

evolution and paleontology

      There are two approaches to the study of crustacean evolution. The first involves the interpretation of the evidence from comparative anatomy. The second involves a consideration of the fossil record.

      Various attempts have been made to construct a hypothetical ancestral crustacean from which it would be possible to derive all the others. The prerequisites for such an ancestor seem to be an elongated body, two pairs of appendages in front of the mouth, a pair of mandibles behind the mouth, and numerous trunk segments with appendages that form a continuous series of similar structure. Before the discovery of the class Cephalocarida, some of the primitive members of the class Branchiopoda, such as the orders Anostraca and Notostraca, were thought to show what such an ancestor might have been like. The Cephalocarida, in having trunk limbs with a jointed inner branch and a platelike outer branch, further showed a possible original structure from which almost any crustacean limb could have been derived. The discovery of the class Remipedia, with a long series of similar trunk limbs, has reopened the question of the original form of the trunk limb in the ancestral crustacean. The Remipedia are undoubtedly primitive, but they do have some adaptations as cave dwellers. The question is still open as to whether the carapace is a primitive crustacean structure or whether it is a feature that has evolved independently in each group. Molecular data may help resolve this and other uncertainties in the coming years.

      The fossil record, although fairly rich, has not solved any of the questions about the early evolution of the Crustacea. The earliest of the definite fossil crustaceans are ostracods, a relatively specialized group. There are also indications from the Burgess shales of the Cambrian Period (542 million to 488 million years ago) that many features of crustacean organization had already evolved by this time. It is only when the later, more highly evolved class Malacostraca is studied that there is good agreement between comparative anatomy and the fossil record. The decapod Palaeopalaemon, a shrimplike form, occurs in the Devonian Period (roughly 416 million to 360 million years ago), crayfish occur in the Late Permian Period (260 million to 251 million years ago), and allies of the hermit crabs (Anomura) are found in the Jurassic Period (200 million to 146 million years ago). The true crabs (infraorder Brachyura), which represent one of the pinnacles of crustacean evolution, do not occur until the beginning of the Cretaceous (144 to 66.5 million years ago).

Classification

Distinguishing taxonomic features

      In classifying (taxonomy) the Crustacea, a variety of characters are important: the form and extent of the carapace, if present; the number of trunk somites, or segments, and how many fuse with the head or with the telson; the number and degree of specialization of the trunk limbs; the presence or absence of paired eyes and of a caudal furca—i.e., a forked-tail process; and the position and kind of respiratory organs. The position of the genital openings, the mode of attachment of the eggs to the female, and the stage at which the first larva hatches may also be significant. Parasitic and sedentary forms may differ markedly as adults from free-living species.

Isabella Gordon James Green

Annotated classification

      The following classification is based largely on that given in Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms (1982) but has been modified to take account of advances made since that date. Groups marked with a dagger (†) are extinct and known only from fossils.

Subphylum Crustacea

 Two pairs of sensory appendages in front of mouth, and 3 pairs of jaws behind mouth; some parasitic and lack all appendages when adult; mostly aquatic; about 45,000 species known.

      Class Cephalocarida (horseshoe shrimps (horseshoe shrimp))

 Holocene; primitive; blind; head shield without carapace; maxilla and all trunk limbs alike, with jointed inner branch and leaflike outer branches; abdominal segments without limbs; telson and furca present; length about 3 mm; marine, intertidal down to 300 m; only 9 known species.

      Class Branchiopoda (branchiopod)

 Early Devonian to present; limbs usually leaflike; maxillae reduced; eyes sometimes stalked, usually sessile (unstalked), often fused to form a single large median eye; nauplius, but some with direct development; predominantly freshwater, some marine, and some in strong inland brines; about 900 species.

      Class Remipedia

 Holocene; body elongated; more than 30 segments, each with biramous appendages projecting sideways; antennules biramous; maxillules, maxillae, and maxillipeds uniramous and grasping; marine cave dwellers; about 17 species.

      †Order Enantiopoda

 Carboniferous; single fossil, Tesnusocaris.

      Class Maxillopoda

 Five pairs of head appendages; single, simple, median eye; antennules uniramous; maxillae usually present; up to 11 trunk segments; over 23,000 species.

      Subclass Thecostraca

 Bivalved carapace of cypris larva forms an enveloping mantle in the adult; parasitic forms recognizable only by larval stages.

      Subclass Cirripedia (cirripede) (barnacles)

 Late Silurian to present; sedentary; 6 pairs of trunk limbs (cirri); larvae free-swimming; sessile adults with carapace developed into a mantle; about 1,100 species.

      Order Ascothoracica

 Cretaceous to present; parasites on sea anemones and echinoderms; body typically enclosed in a bivalved carapace; some with segmented abdomen and caudal furca; others distorted by outgrowths of the gut and ovary, giving a bushlike appearance; males dwarfed, living in mantle cavities of females; marine; about 30 species.

      Order Rhizocephala

 Parasites on other crustaceans, mostly decapods; larvae typical nauplii and cyprids; adults ramify inside hosts and produce 1 or more reproductive bodies outside the host; marine; about 230 species.

      Order Thoracica

 Silurian to present; the true barnacles; most are nonparasitic; larvae are nauplii and cyprids; adult body typically contained within calcareous shell plates; about 800 species.

      Subclass Tantulocarida

 Holocene; eggs give rise to a tantulus larva with head shield and 6 pairs of thoracic limbs; adult females form large dorsal trunk sac between head shield and trunk, often losing the trunk; males with 6 pairs of trunk limbs; parasites on other crustaceans; marine; about 10 species.

      Subclass Branchiura (fish louse)

 All species are ectoparasites on freshwater or marine fish; 125 species.

      Order Arguloida (fish lice)

 Wide, flat carapace; paired compound eyes; unsegmented abdomen; 4 pairs of trunk limbs; fish parasites; capable of free swimming; mostly freshwater but some marine; about 125 species.

      †Subclass Skaracarida

 Late Cambrian; 12 trunk segments; no thoracic appendages apart from maxillipeds.

      Subclass Copepoda (copepod)

 Miocene to present; no carapace; no compound eyes; 1 or more trunk segments fused to head; typically 6 pairs of thoracic limbs; no abdominal limbs; larva usually a nauplius; free-living and parasitic; worldwide; marine, freshwater, and some semi-terrestrial; at least 8,500 species.

      Order Calanoida

 Antennules long, usually held stiffly at right angles to the length of the body; heart present; thorax articulates with a much narrower abdomen; fifth leg biramous; worldwide; marine and freshwater; mostly planktonic; about 2,000 species.

      Order Misophrioida

 Carapace-like extension from the head covers the first segment bearing a swimming leg; heart present in some; no eyes; antennule with up to 27 segments; fifth leg biramous; marine.

      Order Mormonilloida

 Antennule with 3 or 4 long segments and long setae; fifth leg absent; marine.

      Order Harpacticoida

 Antennules short; abdomen not markedly narrower than the thorax; articulation between thoracic segments 5 and 6; mostly benthic, some tunnel in the fronds of seaweeds; usually 1 egg sac but some with 2; marine and freshwater, with some semiterrestrial on damp forest floors; about 2,250 species.

      Order Cyclopoida

 Antennules medium length; thorax wider than abdomen; articulation between thoracic segments 5 and 6; mandibles with biting or chewing processes; eggs normally carried in 2 egg sacs; fifth leg uniramous; marine and freshwater; more than 3,000 species.

      Order Poecilostomatoida

 Parasites and commensals of fish and invertebrates; mouth not tubelike or suckerlike; mandibles reduced; adult segmentation often reduced or lost; mostly marine, few freshwater.

      Order Siphonostomatoida

 Mouth tubelike or forms a sucker with styletlike mandibles; adult segmentation reduced or lost; parasites and commensals on fish and invertebrates; mostly marine, some freshwater.

      Order Monstrilloida

 Parasites on marine worms and mollusks; adults free-swimming; lack mouthparts and gut; biramous swimming legs; about 80 species.

      Subclass Mystacocarida (mustache shrimps (mustache shrimp))

 Elongated; blind forms living in spaces between sand grains; antennules uniramous; antennae and mandibles biramous with long branches extending sideways; trunk limbs vestigial but caudal rami well-developed and pincerlike; marine; about 9 species.

      Class Ostracoda (mussel shrimp) (mussel or seed shrimps)

 Cambrian to present; body short; bivalved carapace encloses trunk and limbs; living forms have up to 7 pairs of appendages; most fossils known only from shells (carapaces); marine, freshwater, and some terrestrial; more than 2,000 living species worldwide.

      †Order Bradoriida

 Cambrian to Ordovician.

      †Order Phosphatocopida

 Cambrian; remarkable fossils with up to 9 pairs of well-preserved appendages.

      †Order Leperditicopida

 Cambrian to Devonian.

      †Order Beyrichicopida

 Silurian to Carboniferous.

      Subclass Myodocopa

 

      Order Myodocopida

 Silurian to present; antennal notch in shell; 5 pairs of postoral appendages; maxilla with a large respiratory plate; eyes usually present; marine.

      Order Halocyprida

 Silurian to present; 5 pairs of postoral appendages; maxilla leglike; no eyes; marine.

      Suborder Cladocopina

 Silurian to present; only 3 pairs of postoral appendages; marine.

      Subclass Podocopa

 

      Order Platycopida

 Ordovician to present; antennae biramous; 4 pairs of postoral limbs; marine.

      Order Podocopida

 Ordovician to present; antennae uniramous; 5 pairs of postoral appendages; marine, freshwater, and terrestrial.

      Class Malacostraca (malacostracan)

 Cambrian to present; typically with compound eyes, stalked or sessile; 8 thoracic and 6 abdominal segments, each potentially capable of bearing a pair of appendages; about 22,000 species.

      Subclass Phyllocarida

 Early Cambrian to present.

      †Order Archaeostraca

 Devonian to Triassic.

      †Order Hoplostraca

 Carboniferous.

      Order Leptostraca

 Permian to present; bivalved carapace encloses 8 pairs of leaflike limbs; movable rostrum; telson with caudal rami; marine; about 10 species.

      Subclass Hoplocarida

 Carboniferous to present.

      Order Stomatopoda (mantis shrimps (mantis shrimp))

 Jurassic to present; eyes stalked; 2 movable segments in head; carapace leaves 4 thoracic segments uncovered; second thoracic limbs massive; marine; about 350 species.

      †Order Palaeostomatopoda

 Carboniferous.

      †Order Aeschronectida

 Carboniferous.

      Subclass Eumalacostraca

 Late Devonian to Holocene; carapace (when present) not bivalved; rostrum fixed; first antenna 2-branched; thoracic legs with slender, many-segmented outer branch and stout, 7-segmented inner branch, often pincerlike, used in walking or food-gathering; 6 (rarely 7) abdominal segments, with pleopods and terminal uropods.

      Superorder Syncarida

 Carboniferous to present; no carapace.

      †Order Palaeocaridacea

 Carboniferous to Permian; first thoracic segment not fused to head; abdominal pleopods 2-branched, flaplike; 4 families.

      Order Anaspidacea

 Permian to present; with or without eyes; antennules biramous; abdominal appendages well-developed; telson without a furca; South Australia and Tasmania; freshwater; about 8 species.

      Order Stygocaridacea

 Blind, elongated forms with a small rostrum; first thoracic segment fused to head but sixth abdominal segment free; furca present; abdominal appendages reduced or absent; South America and New Zealand; freshwater, in spaces between sand grains; about 5 species.

      Order Bathynellacea

 Blind, elongated forms, without a rostrum; first thoracic segment not fused to head but sixth abdominal segment fused with telson; antennules uniramous; worldwide; freshwater, in spaces between sand grains; about 100 species.

      Superorder Peracarida

 Females with a ventral brood pouch formed by plates at the bases of some of the thoracic limbs; development direct, with offspring resembling adults.

      Order Mysidacea (opossum shrimps (opossum shrimp))

 Triassic to present; carapace well-developed, covering most of thorax; 3–30 mm, with a few much larger; worldwide; mainly marine but some in brackish and fresh water; about 780 species.

      Order Cumacea (hooded shrimp)

 Permian to present; head and carapace much wider than trunk; uropods long and rodlike; 1–35 mm; marine; about 800 species.

      Order Spelaeogriphacea

 Holocene; carapace short, fused to first and covering part of second thoracic segment; 4 pairs of well-developed abdominal appendages; about 8 mm; cave-dwelling; South Africa; freshwater; 1 species.

      Order Mictacea

 Holocene; no functional eyes; carapace forms small lateral folds covering bases of mouthparts and maxillipeds; all trunk segments free; antennules biramous; thoracic limbs with exopods; abdominal appendages reduced, uniramous; 2.7–3.5 mm; deep-sea or in marine caves; 2 species.

      Order Tanaidacea (tanaid)

 Permian to present; carapace short, fused to first 2 thoracic segments; second pair of thoracic limbs usually with pincers; abdomen short, usually with 5 pairs of biramous appendages; 2–25 mm; mainly marine; about 500 species.

      Order Isopoda (isopod) (pill bugs, wood lice, sea slaters)

 Carboniferous to present; eyes sessile; no carapace; abdominal appendages flattened and respiratory; thoracic limbs without exopods; some parasites highly modified as adults; most species 5–30 mm but some up to 270 mm; worldwide; marine, freshwater, and terrestrial; about 4,000 species.

      Order Amphipoda (amphipod) (beach hoppers, scuds, well shrimps)

 Eocene to present; eyes sessile; no carapace; thoracic limbs have respiratory plates at base; few parasites; most 5–50 mm but up to 140 mm; worldwide; mainly marine but also numerous in fresh water; about 6,000 species.

      Superorder Eucarida.

 Carapace large, fused dorsally to all thoracic segments; eyes stalked; development usually involves larval forms but is sometimes direct.

      Order Euphausiacea ( krill)

 Holocene; carapace does not cover gills; thoracic limbs with 2 well-developed branches; eggs usually shed freely; first larva a nauplius; 6–81 mm; worldwide; marine; about 85 species.

      Order Amphionidacea

 Holocene; carapace large; mandible and maxillule vestigial; thoracic limbs with small outer branch; ventral brood pouch formed by large forwardly projecting first abdominal appendages; 2–3 cm; worldwide; marine, pelagic; 1 species.

      Order Decapoda (decapod) (shrimps, prawns, lobsters, crayfish, crabs)

 Devonian to present; carapace large, enclosing gills; first 3 pairs of thoracic appendages modified for feeding (maxillipeds); eggs often attached to abdominal appendages; worldwide; mostly marine but also freshwater and a few terrestrial; about 10,000 species.

      Superorder Pancarida

 

      Order Thermosbaenacea

 Holocene; eyes reduced or absent; brood pouch formed from dorsal extension of carapace; length about 4 mm; fresh and brackish water, some in warm springs; about 9 species.

Critical appraisal

      There is no universal agreement on the classification of the Crustacea and even less agreement on the interrelationships between the various groups. Alternative classifications of the classes Branchiopoda and Malacostraca are discussed below. Some authorities, such as the author of the Cirripedes below, rank the cirripedes as a subclass. There is also some disagreement about the limits of the class Maxillopoda. Some would include the class Cephalocarida, others would exclude the class Ostracoda, and yet others do not regard the Maxillopoda as a valid group and would raise the maxilloped subclasses Copepoda and Ostracoda to separate classes. Some of the parasitic forms are sometimes separated and ranked as separate orders.

Additional Reading

A major reference on all aspects of the class is Dorothy E. Bliss (ed.), The Biology of Crustacea, 10 vol. (1982–85). Alfred Kaestner, Invertebrate Zoology, vol. 3 (1970; originally published in German, 2nd ed., 1967), gives an excellent survey of morphology, physiology, embryology, and ecology. Other overviews are provided by the section “Crustacea” in Sybil P. Parker (ed.), Synopsis and Classification of Living Organisms, vol. 2 (1982), pp. 173–326; Raymond C. Moore (ed.), Treatise on Invertebrate Palaeontology, pt. Q, Arthropoda 3 (1961), and pt. R, Arthropoda 4, 2 vol. (1969); and Robert D. Barnes, Invertebrate Zoology, 5th ed. (1987). Robert H. Gore and Kenneth L. Heck (eds.), Crustacean Biogeography (1986), is an important discussion on distribution. Patsy A. McLaughlin, Comparative Morphology of Recent Crustacea (1980), gives clear diagrams of external and internal anatomy. Frederick R. Schram, Crustacea (1986); and Frederick R. Schram (ed.), Crustacean Phylogeny (1983), include recent theories of crustacean evolutionary relationships.

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