11 Crustacean Characteristics: 11 Facts You Should Know!

Crustaceans are a wide variety of arthropods which comprises shrimps, barnacles etc. Let us have a deep look on the characteristics of crustaceans in this article.

  • Crustaceans mostly have segmented bodily structure.
  • Crustaceans have calcium rich outer layer.
  • Crustaceans posses a pair of appendages that aid in feeding, walking etc.
  • Crustaceans lack backbone or spinal column.
  • Crustaceans have antennae
  • Crustaceans have gills.
  • Crustaceans can be thin and long or small and fat.
  • Crustaceans weigh based on the species.
  • Crustaceans are found abundantly in the aquatic system.
  • Crustaceans can be terrestrial organism as well.
  • Crustaceans posses limbs that are connected and mostly they are branched.

Let us discuss if crustacean is a class of organism or a subphylum, if they are related to fish, if it is a vertebrate, if it is a consumer and many other related questions in this article.

Is crustacean a class or subphylum?

Subphyla is a taxonomic category below phyla and above classes. Let us see if crustacean is a class of organism or a subphylum.

Crustaceans are a class of organisms, which fall under the subphylum- Crustacea. Crustacean falls under the kingdom Animalia and phylum Arthropoda. It belongs to the clade- Pancrustacea. There are many orders under the classes of crustaceans like brachiopods, the maxillopoda, the ostracods and the malacostraca.

Is crustacean a fish?

Each organism is unique in its own way. Crustaceans are also unique. Let us see if they are related to fish or not.

Crustacean is not a fish. Crustaceans are a separate category which has both aquatic (marine and freshwater) organisms and also terrestrial organisms. Most of the crustaceans have a hard layer called the outer shell which aids in the protection against predators.

Crustacean Anatomy example
Image Credits: Crustaceans by Bjoertvedt (CC BY-SA 4.0) from Wikimedia Commons

Is shrimp a crustacean?

Shrimp has an elongated body and also possess a swimming mode of locomotion. Let us see if shrimp is a crustacean or not.

Shrimp is a crustacean. It is an aquatic crustacean which is present both in marine and freshwater habitats. They are present in different sizes and based on their size, their feeding also differs. Mostly they feed on aquatic organisms.

Is crustacean a molluscs?

Molluscs are the second largest phylum in the animal kingdom and they possess soft unsegmented bodies. Let us discuss if they are related to crustaceans or not.

Crustacean are not molluscs. Molluscs fall under a separate category as they are triploblastic. Their body is not segmented and is covered with a hard shell which is rich in calcium. Their feet are muscular and the visceral region has a hump, whereas crustaceans are different molluscs.

Examples of molluscs are pearl oyster, cuttlefish, squid, apple snail etc. Examples of crustaceans are shrimps, crabs, lobsters, barnacles, prawns etc.

Is crustacean a consumer?

Knowing more about the food chain, it is important to analyze under which group (producers, consumers or decomposers), crustaceans belong to. Let us discuss.

Crustaceans are consumers. It consumes smaller form of energy. They feed on small organisms, zooplanktons and other tiny aquatic plants for survival. Since consumers are unable to synthesize their own food, they rely on producers to store materials and energy.

Most of the crustaceans are primary consumers and apart from it, there are secondary consumers, tertiary consumers and quaternary consumers in general.

Are crustaceans vertebrates?

Vertebrates are the group of organisms which have backbone or the spinal column in them like mammals, fishes etc. Let us see if or not crustaceans are vertebrates.

Crustaceans are not vertebrates, which means they do not have a backbone or the spinal column in them. Crustaceans are invertebrates like insects, spiders, slaters, landhoppers, centipedes, millipedes etc.

Do crustaceans have exoskeleton?

Certain animals have an exoskeleton that protects and supports their soft tissues. Let us explore if crustaceans have exoskeleton or not.

Crustaceans have an exoskeleton. The exoskeleton of crustacean is composed of a thick chitin layer which is rich in calcium carbonate. The outer layer is made of protein which is thin and called the epicuticle and the inner thick layer which is rich in chitin is called the procuticle layer.

Do crustaceans have antennae?

Antenna is a part of the body structure which acts as a sensory element to an organism. Let us see if crustaceans have an antennae in detail.

Crustaceans have two pairs of antenna in them. They are the sensory organs for the crustaceans. These antennas are present near to their mouths. The pair of antenna that is attached to the first segment is called the primary antennae, which is also called the antennules.

The secondary antenna is attached to the second segment of the crustacean. The antena can be biramous (branched) like crabs, lobsters, remipeds etc or single antenna which is called uniramous in few crustaceans.

Does crustacean have backbone?

Backbone is one of the elements that is really important for every organism. Let us if crustacean have backbone or not.

Crustaceans do not have a backbone. But due to the presence of exoskeleton in their body, it gets a rigid and firm bodily structure. Backbone as such is not present in crustaceans.

Are crustaceans omnivores?

Omnivorous are organisms that can feed on both animal source as well as plant source. Let us discuss if crustacean is an omnivorous or not.

A few of the crustaceans are omnivorous and a few are herbivorous. The best example of an omnivorous crustacean is the hermit crab. They feed on both the tiny plants on the marine bed as well as act as predators to tiny prey in the aquatic system.

Are crustaceans unicellular or multicellular organisms?

Single-celled organisms are called unicellular organism, whereas mutlicellular organism has more than one cell. Let us see if crustaceans are unicellular or multicellular.

Crustaceans are multicellular organisms. They are eukaryotes with complex mechanisms and reactions happening inside them.

Conclusion

This article on the characteristic features of crustaceans include their feeding, cell type, vertebrates or invertebrates, skeletal system, which is their major base material and their place in the food chain and many more.

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