Monstrilloida
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Monstrilloida
(′män·strə′löid·ə)
(invertebrate zoology) A suborder or order of microscopic crustaceans in the subclass Copepoda; adults lack a second antenna and mouthparts, and the digestive tract is vestigial.
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Monstrilloida
A small, aberrant order of the crustacean subclass Copepoda. It comprises two families whose members, as larvae, are parasitic on invertebrates, particularly polychaete worms and prosobranch mollusks. Monstrilloids are characterized by a total absence of mouthparts and gut in the free-swimming, nonfceding adult phase. Antennae are lacking, but antennules are usually well developed. Thoracopods number four pairs, and females carry two egg sacs on a pair of oviger-ous spines. See also Copepoda; Crustacea.
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