''Phallocryptus spinosus'', the halophilic fairy shrimp, is a species of

fairy shrimp Anostraca is one of the four orders of crustaceans in the class Branchiopoda; its members are referred to as fairy shrimp. They live in vernal pools and hypersaline lakes across the world, and they have even been found in deserts, ice-covered mou ...

within the family Thamnocephalidae. The species of previously recorded from a shallow salty pond in

Tabriz Tabriz (; ) is a city in the Central District (Tabriz County), Central District of Tabriz County, in the East Azerbaijan province, East Azerbaijan province of northwestern Iran. It serves as capital of the province, the county, and the distric ...

, occurring in the same area as '' Branchinecta orientalis''. More locations were reported in similar habitats in central and south

Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Armenia to the northwest, the Caspian Sea to the north, Turkmenistan to the nort ...

from

Bafq Bafq () is a city in the Central District of Bafq County, Yazd province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran (IRI) and also known as Persia, is a country in West Asia. It borders Iraq to the west, Turkey, Azerbaij ...

and Lar, and a 4th population was found 200 kilometers south to the original locality. It occurs in parts of

Southern Africa Southern Africa is the southernmost region of Africa. No definition is agreed upon, but some groupings include the United Nations geoscheme for Africa, United Nations geoscheme, the intergovernmental Southern African Development Community, and ...

, notably the

Makgadikgadi Pans The Makgadikgadi Pan (Tswana pronunciation ), a salt pan situated in the middle of the dry savanna of north-eastern Botswana, is one of the largest salt flats in the world. The pan is all that remains of the formerly enormous Lake Makgadik ...

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

. Other

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 ...

species found in this region of Botswana in co-existence with ''B. spinosa'' include ''

Moina belli ''Moina belli'' is a species of crustaceans within the family Moinidae, described by Robert Gurney in 1904. This species lives in waters containing high salinity and other impurities, such as the Makgadikgadi Pans region of Botswana Botsw ...

''.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q115824022, from2=Q4020284 Crustaceans described in 1840 Crustaceans of Iran Endemic fauna of Iran Anostraca