What is "branchiopoda"

Phyllopoda \Phyl*lop"o*da\, n. pl. [NL., fr. Gr. ? a leaf + -poda.] (Zo["o]l.) An order of Entomostraca including a large number of species, most of which live in fresh water. They have flattened or leaflike legs, often very numerous, which they use in swimming. Called also {Branchiopoda}.

Note: In some, the body is covered with a bivalve shell ( Holostraca); in others, as Apus, by a shield-shaped carapace ( Monostraca); in others, like Artemia, there is no carapace, and the body is regularly segmented. Sometimes the group is made to include also the Cladocera.

Branchiopoda \Bran"chi*o*poda\, n. pl. [Gr. ? gill + -poda: cf. F. branchiopode.] (Zo["o]l.) An order of Entomostraca; -- so named from the feet of branchiopods having been supposed to perform the function of gills. It includes the fresh-water genera Branchipus, Apus, and Limnadia, and the genus Artemia found in salt lakes. It is also called {Phyllopoda}. See Phyllopoda, Cladocera. It is sometimes used in a broader sense.

Branchiopoda is a class of crustaceans. It comprises fairy shrimp, clam shrimp, Cladocera, Notostraca and the Devonian Lepidocaris. They are mostly small, freshwater animals that feed on plankton and detritus.