decapoda

Decapoda

De*cap"o*da\, n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ? ten + ?, ?, foot.]

1. (Zo["o]l.) The order of Crustacea which includes the shrimps, lobsters, crabs, etc.

Note: They have a carapace, covering and uniting the somites of the head and thorax and inclosing a gill chamber on each side, and usually have five (rarely six) pairs of legs. They are divided into two principal groups: Brachyura and Macrura. Some writers recognize a third (Anomura) intermediate between the others.

2. (Zo["o]l.) A division of the dibranchiate cephalopods including the cuttlefishes and squids. See Decacera.