Editing Decapod (section)

{{short description|Order of crustaceans}}
{{other uses}}
{{distinguish|Decapodiformes}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Decapoda
| fossil_range = {{fossil_range|Devonian|recent}}
| image = Decapoda_montage.jpg
| image_caption = From left to right: ''[[Grapsus grapsus]]'' ([[Brachyura]]), [[Coconut crab]] ([[Anomura]]), ''[[Lysmata amboinensis]]'' ([[Caridea]]), ''[[Homarus gammarus]]'' ([[Astacidea]]).
| taxon = Decapoda
| authority = [[Pierre André Latreille|Latreille]], 1802
| subdivision_ranks = Suborders
| subdivision =
[[Dendrobranchiata]]<br/>
[[Pleocyemata]]<br/>
See text for superfamilies.
}}

The '''Decapoda''' or '''decapods''', from [[Ancient Greek]] δεκάς (''dekás''), meaning "ten", and πούς (''poús''), meaning "foot", is a large [[order (biology)|order]] of [[crustacean]]s within the class [[Malacostraca]], and includes [[crab]]s, [[lobster]]s, [[crayfish]], [[Caridea|shrimp]], and [[Dendrobranchiata|prawns]]. Most decapods are [[scavenger]]s. The order is estimated to contain nearly 15,000 extant species in around 2,700 genera, with around 3,300 fossil species.<ref name="Grave">{{cite journal|journal=[[Raffles Bulletin of Zoology]] |year=2009 |volume=Suppl. 21 |pages=1–109 |title=A classification of living and fossil genera of decapod crustaceans |author1=Sammy De Grave |author2=N. Dean Pentcheff |author3=Shane T. Ahyong |url=http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s21/s21rbz1-109.pdf |display-authors=etal |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110606064728/http://rmbr.nus.edu.sg/rbz/biblio/s21/s21rbz1-109.pdf |archive-date=2011-06-06 }}</ref> Nearly half of these species are crabs, with the shrimp (about 3,000 species) and [[Anomura]] including [[hermit crab]]s, [[king crab]]s, [[porcelain crab]]s, [[squat lobster]]s (about 2500 species) making up the bulk of the remainder.<ref name="Grave"/> The earliest fossils of the group date to the [[Devonian]].