An Overview on Development and life cycles of Crustaceans
Vandana Kumari
Zoology
September 2021
In various stages of their life cycles, Crustacea (or Pancrustacea) have almost explored every conceivable environment, including freshwater, marine, terrestrial ecosystems, and even the air (pterygote insects). Numerous taxa of crustaceans have complicated life cycles that often change their habitat, way of life, or both. By emphasising variations in the life cycles and how various stages in a life cycle are suited to their environments, this chapter will study the enormous variety of crab life cycles. Changes in the life cycles of crustaceans may be rather abrupt, as is the case with many decapods and barnacles, which transition from a pelagic larval stage to an adult benthic stage. The feeding and swimming tactics of taxa that stay in the same habitat throughout development, such as holoplanktonic Copepoda, Euphausiacea, and Dendrobranchiata, alter significantly. Many species transition from an early larval naupliar (anterior limbs) feeding/swimming system that primarily relies on cephalic appendages to a juvenile/adult one that nearly entirely depends on more posterior appendages. The chapter is organised around a variety of developmental themes, including anamorphosis, metamorphosis, and epimorphosis, and it mostly focuses on nondecapods. Few crustacean taxa, according to the argument, can be classified as totally anamorphic and none as entirely metamorphic. Many species exhibit both traits, and some even undergo two separate metamorphoses (as in the case of barnacles) or are fundamentally anamorphic yet undergo numerous discrete morphological changes as they mature (e.g., Euphausiacea and Dendrobranchiata). The Crustacea are almost unmatched in the Metazoa for the variety of lifestyles they exhibit, with many species exhibiting notable shifts in habitat (pelagic vs benthic, marine versus terrestrial) or manner of eating. Probably one of the main reasons for the evolutionary success of Crustacea is that they have such complicated life cycles.
© Airo Journals 2021
