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Malacostraca Class
With over 20,000 species, Malacostraca is by far the largest Class of Crustaceans. Its members, which are primarily marine but also occupy some freshwater and terrestrial habitats, are
extremely diverse. They include isopods (sowbugs), amphipods, euphausiids (krill), beachhoppers, mantis shrimp, and a very large order, the Decapoda, that contains many kinds of
shrimp, crabs, and crayfish. Malacostracans are characterized by a trunk with eight thoracic and six abdominal somites, each bearing a pair of biramous appendages. [eng]
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