Water fleas, tadpole shrimps, fairy shrimps, clam shrimps, barnacles, fish lice


Crustacea
	Malacostraca, crabs, shrimp, woodlice
	Mystacocarida
	Ostracoda seed shrimps
	Branchiopoda, water fleas
	Cirripedia, barnacles
	Cephalocardia
	Branchiura
	Copepoda, cyclops
	Tantulocardia
	Remipedia

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Class Branchiura, fish lice

Although this is a relatively small Class, it is economically very important. There are about 150 described species, all less than 3 cm long. They are dorsoventrally flattened, nearly all parasitise marine and freshwater fish and they are commonly known as fish lice (see the drawing on the right).

They attach to their host's skin or gills by a pair of suckers, and feed on the host's blood and mucus through a sucking, tubular mouth. They have a shield-like carapace and compound eyes.

Class Branchiopoda, tadpole shrimps, clam shrimps, fairy shrimps and water fleas

There are about 1000 species world wide in this class, most less than 3 cm length in 4 Orders:

Notostraca (tadpole shrimps)
Anostraca (fairy shrimps)
Conchostraca (clam shrimps)
Cladocera (water fleas)

They are unusual in that they occur mainly in freshwater. Most are small filter feeders.

Branchiura, crustacea

Notostraca (tadpole shrimps)

These are also known as triops (see right) and are commonly kept as pets. There are 11 species worldwide. They have a carapace covering the head and thorax, and up to 70 pairs of legs. Although they require quite specific conditions to hatch, e.g. pure, clean, predator free water. They are more robust once they are a few days old. However if you have them as a pet and have managed to get quite a few to hatch it is wise to separate them as they will eat each other in crowded conditions.

They are often described as "the oldest living animal species on earth". Triops canciformis first appeared 220 millions of years ago in the Triassic. Triops langicaudatus, on the right, appeared a little later. It is the species most commonly sold as dried eggs to be raised as a pet.

In the wild they are found in temporary water bodies, especially in arid areas.

Fairy shrimp

Anocostraca (fairy shrimps)

All have long bodies with 20 or more segments, see Branchinecta above, and a Chirocephalus diaphinus female in swimming position (i.e. as seen from above) below. C. diaphanus is found in freshwater. It is semi-transparent, without a carapace, and most of its 11 pairs of legs are similar in shape, so it is considered "primitive". It is sometimes found in pools that dry up during the summer. It can be up to 35 mm long, and swims on its back. It is never still, and the constant movement of its legs creates a current of water bringing food particles down a food groove to its mouth, and oxygen to its tissues. It has a pair of large, black eyes. The first pair of antennae are simple and unjointed; the second pair are broad, and in the male, large and complicated. The gut is visible. Eggs can survive in dry mud for a long time.

Chirocepalus diaphanus, fairy shrimp

Triops langicaudatus, triops, tadpole shrimp

Cladocera (water fleas)

The best known Order are the Cladocera (water fleas see left, and Daphne pulex on the right) with the carapace covering the entire body. Most are less than 5 mm long. They are found mainly in freshwater and there are around 450 species world wide.

Water fleas swim using their second pair of antennae - the first pair are sensory. The down stroke moves the animal upwards, then it slowly sinks.

The other appendages (legs, antennae) are used to filter food particles from the water, and are equipped with hairs to aid in this.

They are also unusual because for much of the year they are parthenogenic. Males are only produced when environmental conditions become unfavourable, i.e. when the weather cools. Then they produce "winter eggs". These survive the cold of winter enclosed in a pouch made form the carapace of their dead mother. These eggs hatch in spring.

Water fleas can live for just a few weeks, or for as long as 6 months. They are found in shallow, weedy ponds, lake edges, and debris in still fresh water.

They are eaten by a wide range of animals, and are an important link in food webs. Their major predators include hydra, flatworms, newts, young fish and other Crustacea.

Daphne pulex (right) has 30 907 genes, that is over 5000 more than humans! (New Scientist 12/2/11)

Class Cirripedia, barnacles

These are the barnacles, they are entirely marine, very modified in body form, and there are about 1000 species.

The larva is free living, and has a carapace and compound eyes.

As adults they are enclosed in a shell of calcareous plates, and are sessile, "a barnacle welds is head to a rock and spends the rest of its life kicking food into its mouth with its legs". In all species the head is reduced, the abdomen absent and the legs have been modified into cirri (many joints with chaetae) for filter feeding (see left). The close fitting plates (see below left) allow them to colonise areas which are periodically dry such as intertidal areas. Below left is Balanus sp. showing the names and positions of the plates.

below goose barnacles Lepas anatifera Lepas anatifera, goose barnacle

Goose barnacles (see Lepas anatifera above right, and Lepas sp. right) are attached by a fleshy stalk to floating structures and are found world wide. The stalk or peduncle can range in length from just a few mm to 75 cm.

Acorn barnacles (above left) attach directly to the substrate.

Barnacles are hermaphrodite, but must reproduce sexually. Each individual has both male and female sexual organs. The penis is enormously long (see above left) and can be extended many times the length of the body - an obvious advantage to an animal permanently attached in one place.

Barnacles often grow on the hulls of ships and can reduce the speed of the ship by as much as 40%, necessitating a visit to a dry dock to clear them off.

Lepas sp., stalked barnacle, goose barnacle