BRANCHIOPOD A

a division of Crustacea of the division Entomostraca. They are for the most part microscopic, and are chiefly distinguished by having the gills attached to the legs, wMch are generally numerous. The body is sometimes naked, but more frequently is enveloped by a buckler, which in some covers only the head and thorax, and in others the whole body. Some have two or even three eyes, but a greater number have one only. They are all free and continually in motion. Among the Branchiopod a are the water-fleas and brine-^imps, and some also rank the trilobites among them.