Branchinella is a crustacean

Crustacean

Crustaceans form a very large group of arthropods, usually treated as a subphylum, which includes such familiar animals as crabs, lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill and barnacles. The 50,000 described species range in size from Stygotantulus stocki at , to the Japanese spider crab with a leg span...

 genus

Genus

In biology, a genus is a low-level taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms, which is an example of definition by genus and differentia...

 in the family

Family (biology)

In biological classification, family is* a taxonomic rank. Other well-known ranks are life, domain, kingdom, phylum, class, order, genus, and species, with family fitting between order and genus. As for the other well-known ranks, there is the option of an immediately lower rank, indicated by the...

 Thamnocephalidae

Thamnocephalidae

Thamnocephalidae is a family of crustaceans with wide distribution including Western Australia and Southern Africa. It was originally described as a subfamily of Branchipodidae by Alpheus Spring Packard in 1883, and elevated to the rank of family by Simon in 1886...

. This fairy shrimp

Fairy shrimp

Anostraca is one of the four orders of crustaceans in the class Branchiopoda; its members are also known as fairy shrimp. They are usually long . Most species have 20 body segments, bearing 11 pairs of leaf-like phyllopodia , and the body lacks a carapace...

 genus is found across many parts of the world, but especially western Australia

Australia

Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and southern Africa

Southern Africa

Southern Africa is the southernmost region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. Within the region are numerous territories, including the Republic of South Africa ; nowadays, the simpler term South Africa is generally reserved for the country in English.-UN...

.

Several species

Species

In biology, a species is one of the basic units of biological classification and a taxonomic rank. A species is often defined as a group of organisms capable of interbreeding and producing fertile offspring. While in many cases this definition is adequate, more precise or differing measures are...

 are threatened by habitat destruction

Habitat destruction

Habitat destruction is the process in which natural habitat is rendered functionally unable to support the species present. In this process, the organisms that previously used the site are displaced or destroyed, reducing biodiversity. Habitat destruction by human activity mainly for the purpose of...

, and B. latzi might be extinct. The latter species was formerly found in waterholes at Uluru

Uluru

Uluru , also known as Ayers Rock, is a large sandstone rock formation in the southern part of the Northern Territory, central Australia. It lies south west of the nearest large town, Alice Springs; by road. Kata Tjuta and Uluru are the two major features of the Uluṟu-Kata Tjuṯa National Park....

, but these have become polluted

Water pollution

Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies . Water pollution occurs when pollutants are discharged directly or indirectly into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful compounds....

 with urine

Urine

Urine is a typically sterile liquid by-product of the body that is secreted by the kidneys through a process called urination and excreted through the urethra. Cellular metabolism generates numerous by-products, many rich in nitrogen, that require elimination from the bloodstream...

 and faeces

Feces

Feces, faeces, or fæces is a waste product from an animal's digestive tract expelled through the anus or cloaca during defecation.-Etymology:...

 of hikers, and the shrimp was absent in a recent survey.

Selected species

Branchinella includes the following species:

• Branchinella acacioidea Belk & Sissom, 1992
• Branchinella affinis Linder, 1941
• Branchinella alachua
  Branchinella alachua
  Branchinella alachua is a species of crustacean in the family Thamnocephalidae. It was described in 1953 by Ralph W. Dexter based on material collected in 1947 by I. J. Cantrall; 11 male individuals of the new species were discovered among Cantrall's collection of Streptocephalus seali. B...
  
  Dexter, 1953
• Branchinella apophysata
  Branchinella apophysata
  Branchinella apophysata is a species of crustacean in the family Thamnocephalidae. It is endemic to Australia.-References:* Inland Water Crustacean Specialist Group 1996. . Downloaded on 9 August 2007....
  
  Linder, 1941
• Branchinella arborea Geddes, 1981
• Branchinella australiensis (Richters, 1876)
• Branchinella basispina
  Branchinella basispina
  Branchinella basispina is a species of crustacean in the family Thamnocephalidae. It is endemic to Australia.-References:* Inland Water Crustacean Specialist Group 1996. . Downloaded on 9 August 2007....
  
  Geddes, 1981
• Branchinella buchananensis Geddes, 1981
• Branchinella chudeaui (Daday, 1910)
• Branchinella compacta Linder, 1941
• Branchinella complexidigitata Timms, 2003
• Branchinella denticulata
  Branchinella denticulata
  Branchinella denticulata is a species of crustacean in the family Thamnocephalidae. It is endemic to Australia.-References:* Inland Water Crustacean Specialist Group 1996. . Downloaded on 9 August 2007....
  
  Linder, 1941
• Branchinella dubia (Schwartz, 1917)
• Branchinella frondosa Henry, 1924
• Branchinella halsei Timms, 2003
• Branchinella hardingi (Qadri & Baqai, 1956)
• Branchinella hattahensis Geddes, 1981
• Branchinella kadjikadji Timms, 2003
• Branchinella kugenumaensis (Ishikawa, 1895)
• Branchinella latzi Geddes, 1981 (possibly extinct)
• Branchinella lithaca
  Branchinella lithaca
  Branchinella lithaca, the Stone Mountain fairy shrimp, is a species of crustacean in the family Thamnocephalidae. It is endemic to the United States.-Source:* Inland Water Crustacean Specialist Group 1996. . Downloaded on 9 August 2007....
  
  (Creaser, 1940)
• Branchinella longirostris Wolf, 1911
• Branchinella lyrifera Linder, 1941
• Branchinella madurai Raj, 1951
• Branchinella mcraeae Timms, 2005
• Branchinella minuta Rœn, 1952
• Branchinella multidigitata Timms, 2008
• Branchinella nana Timms, 2003
• Branchinella nichollsi Linder, 1941
• Branchinella occidentalis Dakin, 1914
• Branchinella ondonguae (Barnard, 1924)
• Branchinella ornata
  Branchinella ornata
  Branchinella ornata is a species within the family Thamnocephalidae. This fairy shrimp species is found in parts of Southern Africa, notably the Sua and Nwetwe Pans of the Makgadikgadi Pans in Botswana....
  
  Daday, 1910
• Branchinella papillata Timms, 2008
• Branchinella pinderi Timms, 2008
• Branchinella pinnata Geddes, 1981
• Branchinella proboscida Henry, 1924
• Branchinella simplex
  Branchinella simplex
  Branchinella simplex is a species of crustacean in the family Thamnocephalidae. It is endemic to Australia.-References:* Inland Water Crustacean Specialist Group 1996. . Downloaded on 9 August 2007....
  
  Linder, 1941
• Branchinella spinosa
  Branchinella spinosa
  Branchinella spinosa is a species within the family Thamnocephalidae. This fairy shrimp species occurs in parts of Southern Africa, notably the Makgadikgadi Pans of Botswana. Other crustacean species found in this region of Botswana in co-existence with B. spinosa include Moina belli....
  
  (Milne-Edwards, 1840)
• Branchinella sublettei Sissom, 1976
• Branchinella thailandensis Sanoamuang, Saengphan & Murugan, 2002
• Branchinella vosperi Timms, 2008
• Branchinella wellardi
  Branchinella wellardi
  Branchinella wellardi is a species of crustacean in the family Thamnocephalidae. It is endemic to Australia.-References:* Inland Water Crustacean Specialist Group 1996. . Downloaded on 9 August 2007....
  
  Milner, 1929
• Branchinella yunnanensis Shen, 1949

Some related fairy shrimp, such as Phallocryptus wrighti, were formerly placed in Branchinella.