THE WATER FLEAS (CLADOCERA) 



739 



250 (249) Six pairs of feet, cylindrical, first pair vcrv long; without branc hial 



appendages '. Tribe II. Haplopoda. 



Sole family Lkptudoridai: LilljcU>rg. 



Head elongated slender; eye filling anterior end. Body 4-Jointc<l. the first ivart l>carir.K 

 the 6 feet and dorsal brood-sac; the 3-jointed abdomen ends in 2 .short stylets or claws \u\vn 

 nules small, freely movable. Antennae with very large i)asal joint; rami 4-jointe<l with numer- 

 ous setae. Mandibles long, slender, pointed, with 3 spines near ai)ex. Ksojihajcus very Ume 

 stomach in last abdominal segment. 9 with very long antennules. The young from winter 

 eggs hatch as a naupHus. 



Sole genus with characters of family Lcptodora Lilljcborg. 



Sole species Lcplodora kindlii (Vockt') 1H44. 



This beautiful, transparent creature is the largest of the Cladocera. the 9 reaching a length 

 of 18 mm. Rapacious, though its weak mandibles prevent it from being formid.iMr t., the 

 harder shelled entomostraca; nocturnal in coming to the surface. 



Limnetic in Great Lakes and small lakes in northern United States; not rare. 



Fig. 1 1 70. Leptodora kindlii. 



IMPORTANT REFERENCES ON NORTH AMERICAN CLADOCERA. 

 BiRGE, E. A. 1891. Notes on Cladocera II. List of Cladocera from >Li.li- 

 son, Wis. Trans. Wis. Acad., 8: 379-398; i pi. 

 1893. Notes on Cladocera III. Descriptions of new and rare s|>ccic.s. 



Trans. Wis. Acad., 9: 275-317; i pi- 

 1910. Notes on Cladocera IV. Descriptions of New and Rare Spec us 

 Chiefly Southern. Trans. Wis. Acad., 16: 10 18- 1066; 5 pi. 

 Herrick, C. L. 1895. Synopsis of the Entomostraca oi Minnesota. Second 

 Report of State Zoologist; 337 pp., 81 pi. 

 Contaia« much information and many figures, original and from various sourct-;; hut the 

 material is not very carefully or critically handled. 



