Os·trac·o·da prop. n. pl. Zool. An order of Entomostraca possessing shrimplike bodies enclosed in hard bivalve shells; called also seed shrimp and mussel shrimp. They were formerly referred to as Ostracoidea. They are of small size, and swim freely about; many are less than 1 mm in length. Microfossils of certain extinct orders have been found extending back to the Cambrian age.
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seed shrimp
n : tiny marine and freshwater crustaceans with a shrimp-like
body enclosed in a bivalve shell [syn: mussel shrimp, ostracod]