In all decapod crustaceans, the gastric mill is located in the cardiac
foregut section of the stomach, anterior to the pyloric foregut and hindgut.
Gastric mills follow an almost uniform structural plan with differences observed between species thought to be due to
The cardiac foregut is
sac-shaped, with a thick chitinous lining which is calcified in places
It
forms the ossicles which support the stomach wall and the chitinous
teeth of the gastric mill
Food enters the cardiac foregut
via the esophagus