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 682 recipes in total:

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Spiced Guinea Fowl Peppersoup      Origin: Nigeria	Thai Crab and Sea-blite Curry      Origin: Thailand	Turkey and Yam Pepper Soup      Origin: Nigeria
Spicy Cranberry Shrimp      Origin: America	Thai Green Curry of Prawn and Fish      Origin: Thailand	Tuvaluan Crab Curry      Origin: Tuvalu
Spicy Prawns and Green Lentils      Origin: Fusion	Thai Green Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand	Udang Masak Lemak Nenas (Pineapple Prawn Curry)      Origin: Malaysia
Spider Crab Casserole      Origin: Britain	Thai Green Curry Paste II      Origin: Thailand	Ukaeb (Minced Crab with Coconut Cream)      Origin: Palau
Spider-crab Salad with Cornish Earlies      Origin: Britain	Thai Hake Bites      Origin: South Africa	Ukwa (Breadfruit Porridge)      Origin: Nigeria
Spring Rolls      Origin: Fusion	Thai Mango Fish Curry      Origin: Thailand	Ulkoy (Palauan Shrimp Patties)      Origin: Palau
St Helena Crab Soup      Origin: St Helena	Thai Pork Curry in the Burmese Style      Origin: Myanmar	Ulkoy (Filipino Shrimp Patties)      Origin: Philippines
Steamed Black-eyed Bean Dumplings      Origin: Ghana	Thai Red Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand	Urap (Steamed Vegetables with Coconut)      Origin: Brunei
Steamed Crawfish      Origin: Liberia	Thai Red Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand	Vary sy laoka malagasy (Malagasy Prawn Curry with Vanilla Rice)      Origin: Madagascar
Steamed Prawns with Wolfberries      Origin: Singapore	Thai Shrimp Soup      Origin: Thailand	Victorian Green Saag with Prawns      Origin: Anglo-Indian
Stiw Pysgotwr (Fisherman's Stew)      Origin: Welsh	Thai Yellow Curry Paste      Origin: Thailand	West African-style Barbecue Sauce      Origin: African Fusion
Street Food Pad Thai      Origin: Thailand	Thai-style Red Seafood Curry      Origin: Fusion	White Crab and Cabbage Shanghai Buns      Origin: China
Stufato del Pescatore (Italian Fisherman's Stew)      Origin: Italy	Thiebou Kéthiakh (Rice with Dried Fish, Seafood and Vegetables)      Origin: Senegal	Whitebeam Berry Jelly      Origin: Britain
Stuffed Morels      Origin: American	To Dress Crab      Origin: Britain	Wildberry Crisp      Origin: Britain
Surf and Turf Kebabs      Origin: Britain	To make Verjuyce.      Origin: Britain	Wontons      Origin: China
Surinamese Nasi Goreng      Origin: Suriname	Tobago Curry Crab and Dumplings      Origin: India	Wouré Burakhè Magilinri (Sweet Potato Leaf Sauce)      Origin: Guinea
Tähroro (Fermented Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Rotuma	Tom Yam Goong 1      Origin: Thailand	Xiao Long Xia (Garlic-braised Crayfish)      Origin: China
Tai Monomono (Fermented Coconut Sauce)      Origin: Cook Islands	Tom Yam Goong 2      Origin: Thailand	Xinxim (Brazilian Chicken and Crayfish in Peanut Sauce)      Origin: Brazil
Taioro      Origin: Tahiti	Tom Yam Goong Maenam      Origin: Thailand	Xuyi Shisanxiang Longxia (Jiangsu Crayfish Cooked with Thirteen-Spice Powder)      Origin: China
Taiwanese Hot Pot      Origin: Taiwan	Tom Yum Talay (Fish Stew)      Origin: Thailand	Yétissé de Poulet (Chicken Yétissé)      Origin: Guinea
Tam Mak Hoong (Laotian Papaya Salad)      Origin: Laos	Toshikoshi Soba (New Year's Eve Soba)      Origin: Japan	Yambo      Origin: Aruba
Tam Som (Lao Green Papaya Salad)      Origin: Laos	Trassie Trafasie (Suriname Shrimp Paste Sauce)      Origin: Suriname	Yebeh (Yam and Fish in Red Palm Oil)      Origin: Sierra Leone
Tandoori King Prawns      Origin: India	Traybake Keralan Fish Curry      Origin: Fusion	Z'habitants (Martinique Callaloo)      Origin: Martinique
Tandoori King Prawns      Origin: Britain	Trini Curried Shrimp Patty      Origin: Trinidad	Zarzuela de Mariscos (Seafood Zarzuela)      Origin: Spain
Tapado (Seafood Soup)      Origin: Guatemala	Trinidad Crab and Callaloo      Origin: Trinidad	Zavla (Dried Prawn Curry)      Origin: India
Taro aux Fruits de Mer (Taro with Seafood)      Origin: Cote dIvoire	Trinidadian Crab Backs      Origin: Trinidad	Zupa di Pesce (Seafood Soup)      Origin: Cayman Islands
Teisennau Cranc wedi'u Grilio (Barbecued Crab Cakes)      Origin: Welsh	Trinidadian Fried Wontons      Origin: Trinidad
Terung Saus Santan (Fried Aubergines with Coconut Milk)      Origin: Papua	Trout Kedgeree      Origin: Britain

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