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 550 recipes in total:

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Chemmen Roast (Kerala Prawn Roast)      Origin: India	Cornish Cod with Samphire      Origin: Britain	Curaçao Sambal Tomat (Tomato Sambal)      Origin: Curacao
Chevrettes à la vanille et coco (Prawns in a coconut-vanilla sauce)      Origin: Tahiti	Cornish Crab Cakes      Origin: Britain	Curried Prawn Noodle Soup with Stevia      Origin: Fusion
Chicken and Prawn Curry      Origin: South Africa	Cornish Crab Chowder      Origin: England	Curry comorien (Comoros Curry)      Origin: Comoros
Chicken and Prawn Koftas      Origin: Britain	Cornish Crab Sandwich      Origin: Britain	Curry Mouan (Chicken Curry)      Origin: Cambodia
Chilli Crab      Origin: Singapore	Cornish Fish Pie      Origin: England	Curry Trey Ruah (Curried Snapper)      Origin: Cambodia
Chilli Crab      Origin: New Caledonia	Cosa-Cosa Camarão (Hot-Hot Prawns)      Origin: Angola	Cyw Iâr â Bwyd Môr (Chicken with Seafood)      Origin: Welsh
Chin Baung Kaw (Fried Roselle Leaves)      Origin: Myanmar	Cowl Bysk (Bisque Broth)      Origin: England	Daging Bumbu Bali      Origin: Indonesia
Chin Baung Kyaw (Fried Roselle Leaves)      Origin: Myanmar	Crab and Potato Soup      Origin: Scotland	Deep Fried Coconut King Prawns      Origin: Britain
Chinese Dumplings      Origin: China	Crab and Rice      Origin: Bahamas	Demok (Taro Leaves in Coconut Milk)      Origin: Palau
Chinese Fish Cakes      Origin: China	Crab and Rice      Origin: Turks Caicos	Dewberry Jelly      Origin: Britain
Chinese Steamed Eggs      Origin: China	Crab and Sweetcorn Soup      Origin: China	Dominica Crab Backs      Origin: Dominica
Christmas Island Crab Rendang      Origin: Christmas Island	Crab and Watercress Quiche      Origin: Britain	Dominica Crab Callaloo      Origin: Dominica
Chu Chee Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand	Crab Apple and Rosehip Jelly      Origin: Britain	Dominica Curry Prawns      Origin: Dominica
Cigalas al Grill (Grilled Langoustine)      Origin: Ecuador	Crab Cakes      Origin: British Virgin Islands	Dongo (Fish with Cassava Leaves)      Origin: Congo
Cocktail de Crevettes (Senegalese Prawn Cocktail)      Origin: Senegal	Crab Cakes      Origin: Fusion	Dressed Crab      Origin: Canada
Cocoa Nib Curried King Prawns      Origin: American	Crab Fried Rice      Origin: China	Dublin Lawyer      Origin: Scotland
Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: Christmas Island	Crab Sauce for Fish      Origin: Britain	Dulse-dressed Prawns      Origin: Ireland
Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: Solomon Islands	Crab with Devil Sauce      Origin: England	East African Prawn Curry      Origin: East Africa
Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: Niue	Crabe Béninoise (Beninese Crabs)      Origin: Benin	East African Shrimp Curry      Origin: East Africa
Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: Cocos Islands	Crabe et Riz (Crab and rice)      Origin: Saint-Martin	Ecrevisses au Curry (Crayfish Curry)      Origin: Cote dIvoire
Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: Palau	Crabes Épicées (Pepper Crabs)      Origin: Guinea	Edikang Ikong Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: Vanuatu	Crabs (Marshallese Coconut Crab)      Origin: Marshall Islands	Efo Riro      Origin: Nigeria
Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: Pitcairn Islands	Cracas      Origin: Cape Verde	Egusi Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Coconut Crab Curry      Origin: New Caledonia	Cranc wedi Pobi â Bacwn wedi ei Fygu (Baked Crab with Smoked Bacon)      Origin: Welsh	Ekoki      Origin: Cameroon
Coconut Crab Delight      Origin: Palau	Crayfish Curry      Origin: South Africa	Ekpang Nkukwo (Cocoyam Pottage)      Origin: Nigeria
Coconut Crab in Coconut Milk      Origin: Pitcairn Islands	Cream of Asparagus Soup      Origin: British	Empanadas fritas de mariscos (Fried Seafood Empanadas)      Origin: Easter Island
Coconut Curry Prawns With Plantains      Origin: Antigua	Creamy Monkfish and Shellfish Potpie      Origin: British	Eog Gyda Saws Corgimychiaid (Salmon with Prawn Sauce)      Origin: Welsh
Coconut Curry Salmon      Origin: Fusion	Crevettes à l'Indienne (Prawns in the Indian Style)      Origin: France	Ewa Dodo (Black-eyed peas with Plantains)      Origin: Niger
Coconut Fish Curry II      Origin: Fusion	Crevettes au Curry (Malagasy Prawn Curry)      Origin: Madagascar	Fāfaru (Fermented Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Tahiti
Coconut Shrimp      Origin: Aruba	Crimped Cod      Origin: Britain	Fāfaru (Fermented Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Wallis Fortuna
Coconut-crusted Shrimp      Origin: Nauru	Crimped Skate      Origin: Britain	Fāfaru (Fermented Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Austral Islands
Congrejo al Coco (Coconut Crab)      Origin: Ecuador	Crispy Antarctic Krill      Origin: China	Fermented Krill/Shrimp Paste      Origin: Japan
Corgimwch dell Patagonia (Prawn Patagonia)      Origin: Welsh (Patagonia)	Crispy Crab Wontons      Origin: Fusion
Cornish Buttered Lobster      Origin: Britain	Crockpot Bayou Gumbo      Origin: American

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