| any of numerous tiny marine and freshwater crustaceans of the subclass Ostracoda, having a shrimplike body enclosed in a hinged bivalve shell. |
os·tra·cod  (ŏs'trə-kŏd')  n. Any of various minute, chiefly freshwater crustaceans of the subclass Ostracoda, having a bivalve carapace. [New Latin Ostracōda, subclass name, from Greek ostrakōdēs, testaceous, from ostrakon, shell; see ost- in Indo-European roots.] |
ostracod
any of a widely distributed group of crustaceans resembling mussels. Mussel shrimp differ from most crustaceans in having a very short trunk that has lost its external segmentation, or divisions. Nearly all of the body is encased in a hard covering, or carapace. The 2,000 living species include marine, freshwater, and terrestrial forms
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trəˌkɒd
dēs,