Eumalacostraca Temporal range:
| |
---|---|
Atlantic blue crab, Callinectes sapidus | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Subclass: | Eumalacostraca Grobben, 1892 |
Superorders | |
Eumalacostraca is a subclass of crustaceans, containing almost all living malacostracans, or about 40,000 described species.[1] The remaining subclasses are the Phyllocarida and possibly the Hoplocarida.[2] Eumalacostracans have 19 segments (5 cephalic, 8 thoracic and 6 abdominal). This arrangement is known as the "caridoid facies", a term coined by William Thomas Calman in 1909. The thoracic limbs are jointed and used for swimming or walking. The common ancestor is thought to have had a carapace, and most living species possess one, but it has been lost in some subgroups.
M&D
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).