Leptestheriidae is a

family Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...

crustacean Crustaceans (from Latin meaning: "those with shells" or "crusted ones") are invertebrate animals that constitute one group of arthropods that are traditionally a part of the subphylum Crustacea (), a large, diverse group of mainly aquatic arthrop ...

s in the order

Spinicaudata Clam shrimp are a group of bivalved branchiopod crustaceans that resemble the unrelated bivalved molluscs. They are extant and also known from the fossil record, from at least the Devonian period and perhaps before. They were originally classif ...

. They are distinguished from the family Cyzicidae by the presence of a

rostral Rostral may refer to: Anatomy * Rostral (anatomical term), situated toward the oral or nasal region * Rostral bone, in ceratopsian dinosaurs * Rostral organ, of certain fish * Rostral scale The rostral scale, or rostral, in snakes and other sca ...

spine. Members of Leptestheriidae are believed to graze on detritus. The family contains five extant genera: * ''

Eoleptestheria ''Eoleptestheria ticinensis'' is a species of clam shrimp in the family Leptestheriidae. Although up to eight species have formerly been recognised in the genus ''Eoleptestheria'', they are more usually all considered part of one species with a ...

'' * '' Leptestheria'' *: '' Leptestheria compleximanus'' * '' Leptestheriella'' * '' Maghrebestheria'' * '' Sewellestheria''

References

Spinicaudata Crustacean families {{branchiopoda-stub