cirripedia

Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia

1. A subclass of low parasitic entomostracous crustaceans; the barnacles and a corn-shells. They have a multivalvular shell or carapace, and a mantle. The abdomen is rudimentary or obsolete; the feet are in the form of cirri (whence the name) and normally 6 in number; the sexes are mostly united, or, if distinct, the male is a minute parasite of the female; and the young are free, but the adults are affixed by the head to some foreign body, either by a long peduncle exserted from the shell, or oftener by a short process inclosed in the shell. These singularly metamorphosed and disguised crustaceans become degraded by parasitism as they mature, the free young being altogether more highly organized than the fixed adults. They are usually divided into three orders, Thoracica, Abdominalia, and Apoda, to which a fourth, Rhizocephala, is sometimes added. Also Cirrhipeda, Cirrhipedia, Cirrhopoda, Cirrhopodes, Cirripeda, Cirripedes, etc. See also cuts under Balanus and Lepas.

GNU Webster's 1913

1. n. (Zoöl.) An order of Crustacea including the barnacles. When adult, they have a calcareous shell composed of several pieces. From the opening of the shell the animal throws out a group of curved legs, looking like a delicate curl, whence the name of the group. See anatifa.

WordNet 3.0

1. n. barnacles.