Lightiella

Lightiella is a genus of crustacean belonging to Hutchinsoniellidae.^[1] It was described by Meredith L. Jones in 1961, based on specimens found in San Francisco Bay. The genus contains 5 species.

Lightiella
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Cephalocarida
Order:	Brachypoda
Family:	Hutchinsoniellidae
Genus:	Lightiella Jones, 1961
Type species
Lightiella serendipita Jones, 1961
Species
Lightiella floridana McLaughlin, 1976 Lightiella incisa Gooding, 1963 Lightiella magdalenina Carcupino et al., 2006 Lightiella monniotae Cals & Delamare, Deboutteville 1970 Lightiella serendipita Jones, 1961

Ecology

Lightiella is known to live in shallow water sandy sediments.

Distribution

Species of Lightiella are known from around the tropical and temperate coasts of North America, on both the east and west coast, as well as the Mediterranean and around New Caledonia.

Description

Adult cephalocaridans are between 2 and 3.7 mm in length. The body is divided into a cephalon, a segmented thorax and a segmented abdomen, with a cephalic shield covering the cephalon. There are no eyes and the body is flexible and translucent. The thorax has a pair of limbs on each segment while the abdomen is limbless, apart from the telson with its slender caudal filaments. The body and limbs are ornamented with various setae and spines. In Lightiella the eighth somite is much smaller than in related genera, as are the caudal rami.^[2]