any crustacean of the mainly freshwater subclass Branchiopoda, having flattened limblike appendages for swimming, feeding, and respiration. The group includes the water fleas
branchiopod in American English
(ˈbræŋkioʊˌpɑd)
noun
any of a class (Branchiopoda) of crustaceans with many pairs of flattened, leaflikelimbs, as the fairy shrimps and water fleas