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The 'cephalothorax' (called 'prosoma' in some groups) is an anatomical term used in arachnids and malacostracan crustaceans for the first (anterior) major body section. The remainder of the body is the abdomen (opisthosoma), which may also bear lateral appendages as well as the tail, if present. The term "prosoma" can also be applied to the head of insects, but as the two are always exactly synonymous in insects (not true for mesosoma vs. thorax or metasoma vs. abdomen), the simpler term - "head" - is used instead.

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Chelicerate cephalothorax

Crustacean cephalothorax

Chelicerate cephalothorax

In the chelicerates, the cephalothorax does not originate from any fusion of head + thorax, because there is no post-cephalic tagmosis (no thorax) in their immediate ancestors. A more correct usage is to say that the cephalothorax (prosoma) in the Chelicerata is formed by the fusion of the head segments + some anteriormost trunk segments. Abdomen is too much a general term, indicated unrelated structures in a number of taxa. Recommended usage is prosoma versus opisthosoma.

Crustacean cephalothorax

It is derived from the fusion of the head (''cephalon'') and the trunk (''thorax''), and therefore includes all the mouthparts, antennae, and the thoracic appendages, such as the legs of a lobster. In the Malacostraca, the cephalothorax is typically covered by a protective carapace.