decapoda Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun lobsters; crayfish; crabs; shrimps; prawns
    order Decapoda.
  2. noun squids and cuttlefishes
    order Decapoda.

WordNet

De*cap"o*da noun plural
Etymology
NL., fr. Gr. ten + , , foot.
Definitions
  1. (Zoöl.) The order of Crustacea which includes the shrimps, lobsters, crabs, etc. ✍ They have a carapace, covering and uniting the somites of the head and thorax and inclosing a gill chamber on each side, and usually have five (rarely six) pairs of legs. They are divided into two principal groups: Brachyura and Macrura. Some writers recognize a third (Anomura) intermediate between the others.
  2. (Zoöl.) A division of the dibranchiate cephalopods including the cuttlefishes and squids. See Decacera.

Webster 1913