''Lioestheria'' ('

clam shrimp Clam shrimp are a group of bivalved branchiopod crustaceans that resemble the unrelated bivalved molluscs. They are extant and also known from the fossil record, from at least the Devonian period and perhaps before. They were originally classifi ...

') are an extinct genus of crustaceans that thrived from the Carboniferous to the

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

(360.7 to 99.7 Mya). They fed on detritus, being very small slow moving,

nekton Nekton or necton (from the ) refers to the actively swimming aquatic organisms in a body of water. The term was proposed by German biologist Ernst Haeckel to differentiate between the active swimmers in a body of water, and the passive organisms t ...

ic organisms that filter fed as they floated. They have been found in both marine and freshwater environments. First identified in 1912, they have been found in Germany, Hungary, Colorado,Lucas,S.G. and Kirkland, J.I., 1998. Preliminary report on conchostraca form the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation, western United states. ''Modern Geology'', ''22'', p.415-422. New Mexico, Montana, Texas, Utah and China. There are two species: *'' Lioestheria monticula *'' Lioestheria carinacurvata''

References

Diplostraca Branchiopoda genera {{branchiopoda-stub