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Branchiopoda
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Branchiopoda
Branchiopoda, from Ancient Greek βράγχια (bránkhia), meaning "gill", and πούς (poús), meaning "foot", is a class of crustaceans. It comprises fairy shrimp, clam shrimp, Diplostraca (or Cladocera), Notostraca, the Devonian Lepidocaris and possibly the Cambrian Rehbachiella. They are mostly small, freshwater animals that feed on plankton and detritus.
Members of the Branchiopoda are unified by the presence of gills on many of the animals' appendages, including some of the mouthparts. This is also responsible for the name of the group (from the Ancient Greek: βράγχια, gills, akin to βρόγχος, windpipe; Greek: πούς, foot). They generally possess compound eyes and a carapace, which may be a shell of two valves enclosing the trunk (as in most Cladocera), broad and shallow (as in the Notostraca), or entirely absent (as in the Anostraca). In the groups where the carapace prevents the use of the trunk limbs for swimming (Cladocera and clam shrimp), the antennae are used for locomotion, as they are in the nauplius. Male fairy shrimp have an enlarged pair of antennae with which they grasp the female during mating, while in the bottom-feeding Notostraca, the antennae are reduced to vestiges. The trunk limbs are beaten in a metachronal rhythm, causing a flow of water along the midline of the animal, from which it derives oxygen, food and, in the case of the Anostraca and Notostraca, movement.
Branchiopods are found in continental fresh water, including temporary pools and in hypersaline lakes, and some in brackish water. Only two groups of water fleas include marine species: Family Podonidae in the order Diplostraca, and family Sididae in the order Diplostraca. Most branchiopodans eat floating detritus or plankton, which they take using the setae on their appendages. But notostracans are omnivorous and very opportunistic feeders and will eat algae and bacteria in addition to animals as both predators and scavengers.
In early taxonomic treatments, the current members of the Branchiopoda were all placed in a single genus, Monoculus. The taxon Branchiopoda was erected by Pierre André Latreille in 1817, initially at the rank of order.
The current upper-level classification of Branchiopoda, according to the World Register of Marine Species (2021), is as follows:
Class Branchiopoda Latreille, 1817
In addition, the extinct genus Lepidocaris is generally placed in Branchiopoda.
The following cladogram is based off a 2023 phylogenetic analysis using bayesian inference and maximum likelihood:
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Branchiopoda
Branchiopoda, from Ancient Greek βράγχια (bránkhia), meaning "gill", and πούς (poús), meaning "foot", is a class of crustaceans. It comprises fairy shrimp, clam shrimp, Diplostraca (or Cladocera), Notostraca, the Devonian Lepidocaris and possibly the Cambrian Rehbachiella. They are mostly small, freshwater animals that feed on plankton and detritus.
Members of the Branchiopoda are unified by the presence of gills on many of the animals' appendages, including some of the mouthparts. This is also responsible for the name of the group (from the Ancient Greek: βράγχια, gills, akin to βρόγχος, windpipe; Greek: πούς, foot). They generally possess compound eyes and a carapace, which may be a shell of two valves enclosing the trunk (as in most Cladocera), broad and shallow (as in the Notostraca), or entirely absent (as in the Anostraca). In the groups where the carapace prevents the use of the trunk limbs for swimming (Cladocera and clam shrimp), the antennae are used for locomotion, as they are in the nauplius. Male fairy shrimp have an enlarged pair of antennae with which they grasp the female during mating, while in the bottom-feeding Notostraca, the antennae are reduced to vestiges. The trunk limbs are beaten in a metachronal rhythm, causing a flow of water along the midline of the animal, from which it derives oxygen, food and, in the case of the Anostraca and Notostraca, movement.
Branchiopods are found in continental fresh water, including temporary pools and in hypersaline lakes, and some in brackish water. Only two groups of water fleas include marine species: Family Podonidae in the order Diplostraca, and family Sididae in the order Diplostraca. Most branchiopodans eat floating detritus or plankton, which they take using the setae on their appendages. But notostracans are omnivorous and very opportunistic feeders and will eat algae and bacteria in addition to animals as both predators and scavengers.
In early taxonomic treatments, the current members of the Branchiopoda were all placed in a single genus, Monoculus. The taxon Branchiopoda was erected by Pierre André Latreille in 1817, initially at the rank of order.
The current upper-level classification of Branchiopoda, according to the World Register of Marine Species (2021), is as follows:
Class Branchiopoda Latreille, 1817
In addition, the extinct genus Lepidocaris is generally placed in Branchiopoda.
The following cladogram is based off a 2023 phylogenetic analysis using bayesian inference and maximum likelihood:
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