Editing Ostracod (section)

===Lifecycle===
Male ostracods have two [[penis]]es, corresponding to two genital openings ([[gonopore]]s) on the female. The individual sperm are often large, and are coiled up within the [[testis]] prior to mating; in some cases, the uncoiled sperm can be up to six times the length of the male ostracod itself. Mating typically occurs during swarming, with large numbers of females swimming to join the males. Some species are partially or wholly [[Parthenogenesis|parthenogenetic]].<ref name=IZ/> Superfamily Darwinuloidea was assumed to have reproduced asexually  for the last 200 million years, but rare males have since been discovered in one of the species.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Smith |first1=Robin J |last2=Kamiya |first2=Takahiro |last3=Horne |first3=David J |title=Living males of the 'ancient asexual' Darwinulidae (Ostracoda: Crustacea) |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |date=22 June 2006 |volume=273 |issue=1593 |pages=1569–1578 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2005.3452 |pmid=16777754 |pmc=1560310 }}</ref>
[[File:Karpvähiline.jpg|thumb|Ostracod]]
In the subclass Myodocopa, all members of the order Myodocopida have brood care, releasing their offspring as first instars, allowing a pelagic lifestyle. In the order Halocyprida the eggs are released directly into the sea, except for a single genus with brood care. In the subclass Podocopa, brood care is only found in Darwinulocopina and some Cytherocopina in the order Podocopida. In the remaining Podocopa it is common to glue the eggs to a firm surface, like vegetation or the substratum. These eggs are often resting eggs, and remain dormant during desiccation and extreme temperatures, only hatching when exposed to more favorable conditions.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=XYOPpkBuuTIC&dq=%22avoid+brooding+and+simply+glue+the+eggs+to+a+firm+surface+and+then+abandon+them%22&pg=PA141 Field Guide to Freshwater Invertebrates of North America]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=orzLHglZlEUC&dq=%22In+the+subclass+Myodocopa%2C+all+representatives+of+Myodocopida+have+brood+care%22&pg=PA59 Recent Freshwater Ostracods of the World: Crustacea, Ostracoda, Podocopida]</ref> Species adapted to [[vernal pool]]s can reach sexual maturity in just 30 days after hatching.<ref>[https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/mar/26/specieswatch-ancient-crustaceans-still-going-strong-after-450m-years Specieswatch: ancient crustaceans still going strong after 450m years]</ref> There is no larval stage or metamorphosis ([[direct development]]). Instead they hatch from the egg as juveniles with the bivalved carapace and at least three functional limbs. As the juvenile grows through a series of molts they acquire more limbs and develop further the already existing ones.<ref>[https://marinescience.ucdavis.edu/sites/g/files/dgvnsk9221/files/inline-files/BMR_Ostracoda.pdf The Light and Smith Manual : Intertidal Invertebrates from Central California to Oregon – Page 419]</ref> They reach sexual maturity in the final instar and then never molts again. The number of instars they go through before adulthood varies. In Podocopa it is eight or nine (but family Entocytheridae and suborder Bairdiocopina has only seven),<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=orzLHglZlEUC&dq=Entocytheridae+Bairdiocopina+seven+instars&pg=PA62 Recent Freshwater Ostracods of the World: Crustacea, Ostracoda, Podocopida]</ref> the Halocyprida goes through six or seven, and Myodocopida only four to six. They are able to produce several offspring many times as adults ([[Semelparity and iteroparity#Iteroparity|iteroparity]]).<ref>[https://media.australian.museum/media/Uploads/Journals/17619/378_complete.pdf Strategies of crustacean growth - Australian Museum]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1FQPEAAAQBAJ&dq=%22Ostracods+become+mature+only+in+the+final+instar%22&pg=PT131 Crustacean Issues 3: Factors in Adult Growth]</ref><ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=Z2tEEAAAQBAJ&dq=Podocopa+eight+nine+stages+Myodocopa+Halocyprida+six+seven+Myodocopida+four&pg=PA130 Evolution and Phylogeny of Pancrustacea: A Story of Scientific Method]</ref>