Article
Article
Anostraca
Article By:
Fryer, Geoffrey Freshwater Biological Association, Cumbria, United Kingdom.
Last reviewed:October 2019
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.037200
An order of branchiopod crustaceans, known as fairy shrimps and, in some cases, brine shrimps (Artemia). Members of the order Anostraca (anostracans) range up to about 100 mm (4 in.) in length but usually are much smaller. The trunk consists of 19–27 segments, of which typically the first 11 (sometimes the first 17 or 19) bear limbs, plus a telson bearing flattened furcal rami (see illustration). The trunk limbs are foliaceous, and all are of the same basic type, but they differ a little among themselves; each limb is differentiated into a series of endites and is usually filtratory. By beating in metachronal rhythm, they propel the animal forward and draw food particles toward it. Anostracans commonly swim with their ventral surface uppermost. See also: Branchiopoda; Crustacea
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