Definition of malacostraca Malacostraca
We found 4 definitions of malacostraca from 4 different sources.
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What does malacostraca mean?
WordNet
Noun |
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| malacostraca - largest subclass of Crustacea including most of the well-known marine, freshwater, and terrestrial crustaceans: crabs; lobsters; shrimps; sow bugs; beach flies | ||
| subclass Malacostraca | ||
| class elegance in dress or behavior; "she has a lot of class" | ||
| class crustacea, crustacea class of mandibulate arthropods including: lobsters; crabs; shrimps; woodlice; barnacles; decapods; water fleas | ||
| malacostracan crustacean a major subclass of crustaceans | ||
| decapoda, order decapoda squids and cuttlefishes | ||
| euphausiacea, order euphausiacea small commonly luminescent crustaceans; important element of marine plankton: krill | ||
| mysidacea, order mysidacea opossum shrimp | ||
| isopoda, order isopoda woodlice | ||
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Webster DictionaryWebster's Unabridged Dictionary 📘
- malacostraca (n. pl.)
A subclass of Crustacea, including Arthrostraca and Thoracostraca, or all those higher than the Entomostraca.
Wikipedia 
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The Malacostraca (Greek: "soft shell") are the largest subgroup of crustaceans. They include decapods (such as crabs, lobsters and shrimp), stomatopods (mantis shrimp) and krill. There are 22,000 members in this group. It represents two thirds of all crustacean species. The first malacostracans appeared in the Cambrian period.
The classification of crustaceans is currently being debated. Some think Malacostraca is a class and others think it is a subclass.
Morphology.
Malacostraca have heads with six segments. They have a pair of antennules and a pair of antennae. They also have mouthparts. There are appendages near the mouthparts, called maxillipeds. They have five pairs of walking legs. The first pair is formed like a pincer. There are eight thoracic segments. There are six abdominal segments. They are used for swimming. Members of Malacostraca have compound stalked or sessile eyes. They have a two-chambered stomach and a centralized nervous system.
Classification.
Class Malacostraca Latreille, 1802
Part of speech
🔤- malacostraca, noun, singular of malacostracas / malacostracae.
