The name Malacostraca is from Ancient Greek μαλακός (malakós) 'soft' and όστρακον (óstrakon) 'shell'. The word was used by Aristotle, … 展开

Malacostracans live in a wide range of marine and freshwater habitats, and three orders have terrestrial members: Amphipoda (Talitridae), Isopoda (Oniscidea, the 展开

Most species of malacostracans have distinct sexes (a phenomenon known as gonochorism), although a few species exhibit hermaphroditism. The female genital openings or 展开

Mating behavior has been studied in the freshwater shrimp Caridina ensifera. Multiple paternity, common in the Malacostrica, also occurs … 展开

The following classification of living malacostracans is based on An Updated Classification of the Recent Crustacea (2001) by the American marine biologists Joel W. Martin, curator of crustaceans at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County 展开

The class Malacostraca includes about 40,000 species, and "arguably ... contains a greater diversity of body forms than any other class in the animal kingdom". Its members are characterised by the presence of three tagmata (specialized groupings of multiple … 展开

The monophyly of Malacostraca is widely accepted. This is supported by several common morphological traits which are present throughout the group and is confirmed by molecular … 展开