Cephalocarida

Cephalocarida
Temporal range:
Hutchinsoniella macracantha
Scientific classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Cephalocarida
Sanders, 1955
Order: Brachypoda
Birshteyn, 1960
Family: Hutchinsoniellidae
Sanders, 1955
Genera
Synonyms
  • Lightiellidae Jones 1961

The Cephalocarida, from Ancient Greek κεφαλή (kephalḗ), meaning "head", and καρίς (karís), meaning "shrimp", are a class in the subphylum Crustacea comprising only 12 species. Both the nauplii and the adults are benthic. They were discovered in 1955 by Howard L. Sanders, and are commonly referred to as horseshoe shrimp. They have been grouped together with the Remipedia in the Xenocarida. Although a second family, Lightiellidae, is sometimes used, all cephalocaridans are generally considered to belong in just one family: Hutchinsoniellidae. Fossil records of cephalocaridans have been found in the Ordovician Castle Bank site.