See text The Cyclopoida are an order of small crustaceans from the class Copepoda.

Like many other copepods, members of Cyclopoida are small, planktonic animals living both in the sea and in freshwater habitats.

Their larval development is metamorphic, and the embryos are carried in paired or single sacs attached to first abdominal somite.

The main joint lies between the fourth and fifth segments of the body.

[2] Cyclopoida contains 30 families:[3] Several more families are included in suborder Poecilostomatoida, a temporary name for the "poecilostome lineage" [4] The Poecilostomatoida were previously treated as a separate order, but molecular phylogenies show that this lineage is nested within the Cyclopoida.