• Animals (Kingdom Animalia)

• Arthropods (Phylum Arthropoda)

• Crustaceans (Subphylum Crustacea)

• Typical Crustaceans (Superclass Multicrustacea)

• Malacostracans (Class Malacostraca)

• Decapods, Isopods, and Allies (Subclass Eumalacostraca)

• Decapods and Krill (Superorder Eucarida)

• Decapods (Order Decapoda)

• Crabs, Lobsters, Shrimps, and Allies (Suborder Pleocyemata)

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Suborder Pleocyemata is a major group of decapod crustaceans within the order Decapoda that includes many familiar marine and freshwater animals such as true crabs, lobsters, crayfish, hermit crabs, porcelain crabs, and numerous shrimp species. A defining characteristic of pleocyematans is that females carry their fertilized eggs attached to the pleopods (swimming legs) beneath the abdomen until they hatch, a trait reflected in the name Pleocyemata, meaning “brooded eggs.” Members of this suborder occupy an extraordinary range of habitats, from deep oceans and coral reefs to rivers, lakes, caves, and coastal wetlands. They exhibit tremendous diversity in size, form, and behaviour, ranging from tiny shrimps only a few millimetres long to large lobsters and crabs.