Description
With the exception of some barnacles, maxillopodans are mostly small, including the smallest known arthropod, Stygotantulus stocki. They often have short bodies, with the abdomen reduced in size, and generally lacking any appendages. This may have arisen through paedomorphosis.
Apart from barnacles, which use their legs for filter feeding, most maxillopodans feed with their maxillae. They have a bauplan comprising 5 cephalic segments, 6 thoracic segments and 4 abdominal segments, followed by a telson.
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