| decapod | <zoology> A crustacean with ten feet or legs, as a crab; one of the Decapoda. Also used adjectively. Origin: Cf. F. Decapode. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |
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| decapoda | 1. <zoology> The order of Crustacea which includes the shrimps, lobsters, crabs, etc. 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. <zoology> A division of the dibranchiate cephalopods including the cuttlefishes and squids. See Decacera. Origin: NL, fr. Gr. Ten +, foot. Source: Websters Dictionary (01 Mar 1998) |