Crustaceans, a kidcyber links page

Crustaceans- a kidcyber weblink page

These animals have hard shells.
Most live in water.
Some live in fresh water.
Some live in the sea.
Some are farmed for people to eat.

The group of animals called crustaceans (say crust-ay-shun) is a huge one: there are almost 52,000 species, or kinds. They include crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill, yabbies and barnacles. Most are aquatic, some living in freshwater and some in salt water, but a few have adapted to living on land: land crabs, hermit crabs, slaters and woodlice.

Crustaceans are invertebrates, animals with no backbone. They are arthropods – animals with jointed legs and an exoskeleton, or external skeleton. Their skeleton is the hard shell they are covered in. Their bodies are in sections, or segments, with seven or more pairs of appendages, such as legs, for moving, feeding and breeding. They have antennae. They breathe through gills.

Many crustaceans feed on rotting leaves and dead fish and other animals. This decaying matter is called detritus, and animals that feed on it are detrivores. Crustaceans therefore perform an important job by cleaning up the water environment.

Image ©[2008] Jupiterimages Corporation

Find out more about crustaceans:

This one is a list of crustacean species:
http://museumvictoria.com.au/crust/comlist.html

http://www.wettropics.gov.au/pa/pa_crustaceans.html

http://www.ocean.udel.edu/mas/seafood/shellfish.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/invertebrates/crustacean/Crayfishprintout.shtml

http://www.mesa.edu.au/friends/seashores/barnacles.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/invertebrates/crustacean/Lobsterprintout.shtml

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/invertebrates/crustacean/

http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-shrimp.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/invertebrates/crustacean/Hermitcrab.shtml

http://www.thefunplace.com/house/pets/hermit.html

http://www.enchantedlearning.com/subjects/invertebrates/crustacean/Krillprintout.shtml

http://www.coolantarctica.com/Antarctica%20fact%20file/wildlife/krill.htm

If you use any part of this in your own work, acknowledge it in your bibliography like this:
Sydenham, S & Thomas, R. Crustaceans [Online] www.kidcyber.com.au [2008]

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