The Stenopodidea is a small group of decapod

Decapoda

The decapods or Decapoda are an order of crustaceans within the class Malacostraca, including many familiar groups, such as crayfish, crabs, lobsters, prawns and shrimp. Most decapods are scavengers. It is estimated that the order contains nearly 15,000 species in around 2,700 genera, with...

 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...

s. Often confused with shrimp

Shrimp

Shrimp are swimming, decapod crustaceans classified in the infraorder Caridea, found widely around the world in both fresh and salt water. Adult shrimp are filter feeding benthic animals living close to the bottom. They can live in schools and can swim rapidly backwards. Shrimp are an important...

 or prawn

Prawn

Prawns are decapod crustaceans of the sub-order Dendrobranchiata. There are 540 extant species, in seven families, and a fossil record extending back to the Devonian...

s, they are neither, but belong in a group closer to the reptant decapods, such as lobster

Lobster

Clawed lobsters comprise a family of large marine crustaceans. Highly prized as seafood, lobsters are economically important, and are often one of the most profitable commodities in coastal areas they populate.Though several groups of crustaceans are known as lobsters, the clawed lobsters are most...

s and crab

Crab

True crabs are decapod crustaceans of the infraorder Brachyura, which typically have a very short projecting "tail" , or where the reduced abdomen is entirely hidden under the thorax...

s. They may be easily recognised by their third pereiopod (walking leg), which is greatly enlarged. In the lobsters and crabs, it is the first pereiopod that is much bigger than the others.

Stenopodideans are widely kept in aquaria

Aquarium

An aquarium is a vivarium consisting of at least one transparent side in which water-dwelling plants or animals are kept. Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, marine mammals, turtles, and aquatic plants...

, since they help to keep the tanks and other animals clean of algae

Algae

Algae are a large and diverse group of simple, typically autotrophic organisms, ranging from unicellular to multicellular forms, such as the giant kelps that grow to 65 meters in length. They are photosynthetic like plants, and "simple" because their tissues are not organized into the many...

 and other detritus

Detritus

Detritus is a biological term used to describe dead or waste organic material.Detritus may also refer to:* Detritus , a geological term used to describe the particles of rock produced by weathering...

. Many species are particularly attractive, with striped red and white bodies, earning them the alternative name barber-pole shrimp.

The earliest fossil assigned to the Stenopodidea is Jilinocaris chinensis from the Late Cretaceous

Late Cretaceous

The Late Cretaceous is the younger of two epochs into which the Cretaceous period is divided in the geologic timescale. Rock strata from this epoch form the Upper Cretaceous series...

.

Sixty-eight extant species and two fossil species are assigned among the thirteen genera:

• Macromaxillocarididae Alvarez, Iliffe & Villalobos, 2006
  • Macromaxillocaris Alvarez, Iliffe & Villalobos, 2006
• Spongicolidae Schram, 1986
  • Globospongicola Komai & Saito, 2006
  • Jilinocaris † Schram, Shen, Vonk & Taylor, 2000
  • Microprosthema Stimpson, 1860
  • Paraspongicola De Saint Laurent & Cléva, 1981
  • Spongicola De Haan, 1844
  • Spongicoloides Hansen, 1908
  • Spongiocaris Bruce & Baba, 1973
• Stenopodidae Claus, 1872
  • Engystenopus Alcock & Anderson, 1894
  • Odontozona Holthuis, 1946
  • Phoenice † Garassino, 2001
  • Richardina A. Milne-Edwards, 1881
  • Stenopus
    Stenopus
    Stenopus is a genus of swimming decapod crustaceans containing eleven species, including Stenopus hispidus, a common aquarium pet. Stenopus contains the following species:*Stenopus chrysexanthus Goy, 1992*Stenopus cyanoscelis Goy, 1984...
    
    Latreille, 1819