Cladocera

Cladocera is a taxon classified as a suborder within the parent taxon Diplostraca. It belongs to the kingdom Animalia, phylum Arthropoda, and class Branchiopoda. The group is commonly referred to as water fleas or cladocerans. According to the World Register of Marine Species, the taxon has an unaccepted status at the order rank, with authority attributed to Latreille, 1829.

These organisms inhabit marine, brackish, and freshwater environments. The taxon has been described in sources including the Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary and the Encyclopædia Britannica 11th edition. Common names for the group include "Wasserflöhe" and "vodne bolhe."

Records associated with Cladocera include 3,012,139,120 occurrences and 7,702 PubMed entries. Additionally, 288 records and 52 media items are held by institutions such as YPM, GMNH, CAS, UAM, and MUSEU NACIONAL/UFRJ, with collections from Chile, the United States, Brasil, India, and Ecuador.