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© jacintha castora photography
The main characteristic of the crustaceans is the presence of a chitinous exoskeleton, periodically shed and replaced when the animal grows.
They have a segmented body, each segment with appendages. The functional variability of these appendages in different groups is a principal reason why these animals display an enormous evolutionary diversity. The appendages evolved into feet, antennae, gills, mandibles, etc.
Sexual reproduction of crustaceans takes place when the female releases the eggs immediately after fertilization and the larvae either develop directly into forms that are morphologically identical to the adults, or pass through different larval stages that are morphologically very different from their fully-developed adult state.
Authors: Nathalia Tirado, Angel Chiriboga, Diego Ruiz, Stuart Banks.
Other Contributors: Margarita Brandt, Rodrigo Bustamante, Rosita Calderón, Graham Edgar, José Miguel Fariña, Cleveland Hickman, Inti Keith, Diana Loyola, Fernando Pinillos, Fernando Rivera, Franz Smith, Yanella Tutivén, Mariana Vera, Luis Vinueza, Janai Yepez.
Names of taxa included: 38.
Origin of the taxa included: 5 accidental, 23 endemic, 2 indigenous.
Domain Eukaryota
Kingdom Animalia
Division Arthropoda
Class Branchiopoda
Order Anostraca
Order Netostraca
Class Insecta
Order Orthoptera
Class Malacostraca
Order Amphipoda
Order Isopoda
Class Ostracoda
Order Podocopida
Order Podocopina
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