Taxon Description (Wikipedia)
Maxillopoda is a diverse class of crustaceans including barnacles, copepods and a number of related animals. It does not appear to be a monophyletic group, and no single character unites all the members.
[ ]
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...
full article at Wikipedia
