Most crustaceans are free-living aquatic animals, but some are terrestrial (e.g. woodlice, sandhoppers), some are parasitic (e.g. Rhizocephala, fish lice, tongue worms) and some are sessile (e.g. barnacles). The group has an extensive fossil record, reaching back to the Cambrian. More than 7.9 million tons of crustaceans per year are harvested by fishery or farming for human consumption, consisting mostly of shrimp and prawns. Krill and copepods are not as widely fished, but may be the animals with the greatest biomass on the planet, and form a vital part of the food chain. The scientific study of crustaceans is known as carcinology (alternatively, malacostracology, crustaceology or crustalogy), and a scientist who works in carcinology is a carcinologist.

The body of a crustacean is composed of segments, which are grouped into three regions: the cephalon or head, the pereon or thorax, and the pleon or abdomen. The head and thorax may be fused together to form a cephalothorax, which may be covered by a single large carapace. The crustacean body is protected by the hard exoskeleton, which must be moulted for the animal to grow. The shell around each somite can be divided into a dorsal tergum, ventral sternum and a lateral pleuron. Various parts of the exoskeleton may be fused together.

The name "crustacean" dates from the earliest works to describe the animals, including those of Pierre Belon and Guillaume Rondelet, but the name was not used by some later authors, including Carl Linnaeus, who included crustaceans among the "Aptera" in his Systema Naturae. The earliest nomenclatural valid work to use the name "Crustacea" was Morten Thrane Brünnich's Zoologiæ Fundamenta in 1772, although he also included chelicerates in the group.

The traditional classification of Crustacea based on morphology recognised four to six classes. Bowman and Abele (1982) recognised 652 extant families and 38 orders, organised into six classes: Branchiopoda, Remipedia, Cephalocarida, Maxillopoda, Ostracoda, and Malacostraca. Martin and Davis (2001) updated this classification, retaining the six classes but including 849 extant families in 42 orders. Despite outlining the evidence that Maxillopoda was non-monophyletic, they retained it as one of the six classes, although did suggest that Maxillipoda could be replaced by elevating its subclasses to classes. Since then phylogenetic studies have confirmed the polyphyly of Maxillopoda and the paraphyletic nature of Crustacea with respect to Hexapoda. Recent classifications recognise ten to twelve classes in Crustacea or Pancrustacea, with several former maxillopod subclasses now recognised as classes (e.g. Thecostraca, Tantulocarida, Mystacocarida, Copepoda, Branchiura and Pentastomida).

Many crustaceans are consumed by humans, and nearly 10,700,000 tons were harvested in 2007; the vast majority of this output is of decapod crustaceans: crabs, lobsters, shrimp, crayfish, langoustine and prawns. Over 60% by weight of all crustaceans caught for consumption are shrimp and prawns, and nearly 80% is produced in Asia, with China alone producing nearly half the world's total. Non-decapod crustaceans are not widely consumed, with only 118,000 tons of krill being caught, despite krill having one of the greatest biomasses on the planet. Krill are, however, a speciality in China and Japan and are used pickled in Korea. They are also consumed in Artic regions and are being introduced to new consumers as fusion recipes using frozen and tinned krill. Gooseneck barnacles (Pollicipes pollicipes) are a speciality of Spanish cuisine (recipes including krill and gooseneck barnacles can be found in the links below). The Pacific goose barnacle, Pollicipes elegans is also consumed, particularly in Alaska. The Japanese goose barnacle, Capitulum mitella is eaten in Japan. The Chilean giant barnacle or picoroco (Austromegabalanus psittacus) is routinely fished for food. Woodlice are sometimes consumed by foragers. Dried prawns (locally known as crawfish) are used as a flavouring and thickener in West African stews.

The alphabetical list of all the Crustacean-based recipes on this site follows, (limited to 100 recipes per page). There are 643 recipes in total:

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Risoto Cranc Celtaidd a Chorgimychiaid Bae Ceredigion (Risotto of Celtic Crab and Cardigan Bay Prawns)      Origin: Welsh	Sewin Gyda Saws Perlysiau (Sea Trout with Herb Sauce)      Origin: Welsh	Steamed Black-eyed Bean Dumplings      Origin: Ghana
Rosehip and Crab Apple Jelly      Origin: Britain	Shacha Sauce      Origin: China	Steamed Crawfish      Origin: Liberia
Rosehip and Rowan Marmalade      Origin: Britain	Shacha Sauce      Origin: Taiwan	Steamed Prawns with Wolfberries      Origin: Singapore
Rowan Jelly      Origin: Britain	Shito (Dark Chilli Sambal)      Origin: Ghana	Stiw Pysgotwr (Fisherman's Stew)      Origin: Welsh
Saba Callaloo      Origin: Saba	Shito (Ghanaian Black Chilli Sauce)      Origin: Ghana	Street Food Pad Thai      Origin: Thailand
Sacha Sauce      Origin: Taiwan	Shitor Din      Origin: Ghana	Stufato del Pescatore (Italian Fisherman's Stew)      Origin: Italy
Saimin (Hawaiian Noodle Soup)      Origin: Hawaii	Shorshe Chingri (Bengali Prawns and Sea Blite)      Origin: Bangladesh	Stuffed Morels      Origin: American
Saka Saka du Mali (Malian Sweet Potato Leaf Sauce)      Origin: Mali	Shrimp and Corn Chowder      Origin: American	Surf and Turf Kebabs      Origin: Britain
Salade de la mer (Seafood Salad)      Origin: France	Shrimp Sauce      Origin: Britain	Surinamese Nasi Goreng      Origin: Suriname
Sallets for fish daies (Fish-day Salad)      Origin: British	Shrimp Sauce      Origin: British	Tähroro (Fermented Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Rotuma
Salsa de Cacahuete con Pollo (Peanut Sauce with Chicken)      Origin: Equatorial Guinea	Sigá (Prawn and Okra Stew)      Origin: Guinea-Bissau	Tai Monomono (Fermented Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Cook Islands
Sambal Belacan      Origin: Malaysia	Singapore Hokkien Mee      Origin: Singapore	Taioro      Origin: Tahiti
Sambal Telur      Origin: Malaysia	Sint Maarten Crab Backs      Origin: Sint Maarten	Taiwanese Hot Pot      Origin: Taiwan
Sambal Tomat (Tomato Sambal)      Origin: Aruba	Smoky Fish Skewers      Origin: Britain	Tam Mak Hoong (Laotian Papaya Salad)      Origin: Laos
Samilolo (Fermented Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Samoa	Smoky Prawn Jollof Rice      Origin: Nigeria	Tam Som (Lao Green Papaya Salad)      Origin: Laos
Samphire and Crab Salad      Origin: Britain	Smörgåstårta (Swedish Savoury Sandwich Cake)      Origin: Sweden	Tandoori King Prawns      Origin: India
Samusa aux Crevettes Réunionaise (Reunion Shrimp Samosas)      Origin: Reunion	Smørbrødterte (Norwegian Savoury Sandwich Cake)      Origin: Norway	Tandoori King Prawns      Origin: Britain
Sao Tomean Calulu      Origin: Sao Tome	Sneezewort Arroz de Jambú      Origin: Britain	Tapado (Seafood Soup)      Origin: Guatemala
Satay      Origin: Indonesia	Soft-wrapped Pork and Prawn Rolls      Origin: Fusion	Taro aux Fruits de Mer (Taro with Seafood)      Origin: Cote dIvoire
Sauce Gbanbouda (Tô with Okra Sauce and Peanuts)      Origin: Guinea	Sole avec La Sauce Joinville (Sole with Joinville Sauce)      Origin: France	Teisennau Cranc wedi'u Grilio (Barbecued Crab Cakes)      Origin: Welsh
Sauce Gombo Togolaise (Togolese Okra Sauce)      Origin: Togo	Sole Fillets Stuffed with Mixed Wild Mushrooms and Ricotta Cheese      Origin: Britain	Terung Saus Santan (Fried Aubergines with Coconut Milk)      Origin: Papua
Scallop and Prawn Chu Chee      Origin: Thailand	Som Tam (Thai Green Papaya Salad)      Origin: Thailand	Thai Crab and Sea-blite Curry      Origin: Thailand
Scillas (King Prawns)      Origin: Roman	Somlar Kari Saek Mouan (Chicken Red Curry)      Origin: Cambodia	Thai Green Curry of Prawn and Fish      Origin: Thailand
Scrambled Eggs with Woodlice      Origin: Britain	Soupe Kandja      Origin: Mali	Thai Green Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand
Sea Blite with Crab and Vanilla Mayonnaise      Origin: Britain	Spanish Prawns      Origin: Britain	Thai Green Curry Paste II      Origin: Thailand
Seafood Amok      Origin: Cambodia	Special Efo Riro      Origin: Nigeria	Thai Hake Bites      Origin: South Africa
Seafood and Bacon Kebabs      Origin: Britain	Spiced Crab Apples      Origin: Britain	Thai Mango Fish Curry      Origin: Thailand
Seafood Chili      Origin: American	Spiced Guinea Fowl Peppersoup      Origin: Nigeria	Thai Pork Curry in the Burmese Style      Origin: Myanmar
Seafood Curry      Origin: Scotland	Spicy Cranberry Shrimp      Origin: America	Thai Red Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand
Seafood Pastechi      Origin: Sint Eustatius	Spicy Prawns and Green Lentils      Origin: Fusion	Thai Red Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand
Seafood Pastechi      Origin: Saba	Spider Crab Casserole      Origin: Britain	Thai Shrimp Soup      Origin: Thailand
Seafood Pastechi      Origin: Aruba	Spider-crab Salad with Cornish Earlies      Origin: Britain	Thai Yellow Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand
Seafood Pastechi      Origin: Curacao	Spring Rolls      Origin: Fusion
Seafood-stuffed Morel Mushrooms      Origin: America	St Helena Crab Soup      Origin: St Helena

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