Editing Mysida (section)

==Description== 
The head of a mysid bears two pairs of antennae and a pair of large, stalked eyes. The head and first segment (or sometimes the first three segments) of the thorax are fused to form the [[cephalothorax]]. The eight thoracic segments are covered by the [[carapace]] which is attached only to the first three. The first two thoracic segments bear [[maxilliped]]s which are used to filter plankton and organic particulate from the water. The other six pairs of thoracic appendages are [[biramous]] (branching) limbs known as [[pereopod]]s, and are used for swimming, as well as for wafting water towards the maxillipeds for feeding.  Unlike true shrimps ([[Caridea]]), females have a [[Brood pouch (Peracarida)|marsupium]] beneath the thorax. This brood pouch is enclosed by the large, flexible oostegites, bristly flaps which extend from the basal segments of the pereopods and which form the floor of a chamber roofed by the animal's [[Sternum (arthropod anatomy)|sternum]]. This chamber is where the eggs are brooded, [[Marine larval ecology#Larval development strategies|development being direct]] in most cases.<ref name=Ruppert>{{cite book |title=Invertebrate Zoology, 7th edition |last1=Ruppert |first1=Edward E. |last2=Fox |first2=Richard, S. |last3=Barnes |first3=Robert D. |year=2004 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-81-315-0104-7 |pages=652–654 }}</ref>

The abdomen has six segments, the first five of which bear [[pleopod]]s, although these may be absent or vestigial in females. The fourth pleopod is longer than the others in males and has a specialized reproductory function.<ref name=Ruppert/>

The majority of species are {{convert|5|-|25|mm|1|abbr=on}} long, and vary in colour from pale and transparent, through to bright orange or brown. They differ from other species within the superorder [[Peracarida]] by featuring [[statocyst]]s on their [[uropod]]s (located on the last abdominal segment). These help the animal orient itself in the water and are clearly seen as circular [[Vesicle (biology)|vesicles]]: together with the pouch the statocysts are often used as features that distinguish mysids from other shrimp-like organisms.<ref name="Mauchline"/>