macrura, macroura

pl. [MACRURUS.] 1. Zool.: Long-tailed Crustaceans; lobsters, a sub-order of Decapod a, having the abdomen greatly developed, cylindrical, the segments short, flattened, and expanded laterally; the whole terminated by a broad swimming tail. The antenne are usually large. The feet are terminated by nipping claws. The young, on being hatched, are not very different in form from their parents. They abound in both salt and fresh water. The sub-order contains the families Crangonidæ, Astacidæ, Thala inide, and Palinuridæ. 2. Palæont.: They came into existence in paleozoic times. ma-crûr-al, ma-crûr-oŭs, adj. [MACRURA.] Belonging to or having the characteristics of the family Macrura (q. v.).