Valvifera

{{Short description|Suborder of crustaceans}}

{{Automatic Taxobox

| name = Valvifera

| image = Isopod, Glyptonotus antarcticus.jpg

| image_caption = Glyptonotus antarcticus (Chaetiliidae)

| taxon = Valvifera

| authority = Sars, 1882

}}

The Valvifera are marine isopod crustaceans. Valviferans are distinguished, however, by the flat, valve-like uropods which hinge laterally and fold inward beneath the rear part of their bodies, covering the pleopods.{{cite web |url=http://crustacea.net/crustace/www/valvifer.htm |title=Valvifera (Isopoda, Peracarida, Malacostraca) |work=Crustacea, the Higher Taxa: Description, Identification, and Information Retrieval |author=J. K. Lowry |date=2 October 1999 |access-date=June 4, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190320100640/http://crustacea.net:80/crustace/www/valvifer.htm |archive-date=20 March 2019 }} Some species are omnivorous, and serve as effective scavengers in the economy of the sea.