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OVERVIEW aaaa•6650 living species aaaa•additional 10,000 sp. only known as fossils aaaa•shells provide excellent fossils- record goes back about 530 million years REGION/HABITAT aaaa•freshwater, marine, or brackish environments aaaa•submerged plants and debris around shallow edges aaaa•less common in open water FEEDING aaaa•scavengers REPRODUCTION aaaa•sexual reproduction and parthenogenesis CHARACTERISTICS aaaa•small aquatic crustaceans ( 1 - 20mm) aaaa•head and body enclosed in a bivalved carapace aaaa•trunk of body possesses no more than 2 pairs of appendages aaaa•7 pairs of appendages overall specialized for different tasks aaaa•lives inside a carapace made of two valves aaaa•sexually dimorphic Cyprinidia aaaa•luminous aaaa•coastal waters and sands of Japan |
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Ostracods This web site has LOTS of high quality pictures of different species of ostracods and contains good information. |
Ostracod Pictures This site contains over a dozen pictures of various ostracods. |