Branchipodopsis is a genus of aquatic crustaceans, in the order Anostraca. It is one of several genera known as fairy shrimp. All described species are specialised for inhabiting ephemeral rock pools in situations such as mountains and deserts. Though the genus is most widely known from Africa, some occur in the middle east and adjoining regions. Distribution Species in the genus Branchipodopsis have been described mainly from the African mainland, in particular southern Africa, and among anostracan taxa the genus is among the most speciose in the sub-continent. Some species however have been reported from elsewhere, such as Branchipodopsis buettikeri, found in temporary desert ponds in the Sultanate of Oman, the first species found in the Arabian peninsula. The recently described species, Branchipodopsis relictus on the main island of the Socotra archipelago, which is exceedingly remote for what it is, a continental fragment of Gondwana, isolated since the Miocene. Branchipodopsis relictus is correspondingly isolated genetically as well as geographically. Ecology All the species in this genus inhabit small, transient rock pools, mainly pools containing clear rain water after heavy, seasonal rainfall. Like most inhabitants of vernal pools Branchipodopsis are adapted to the associated unpredictability and drastically changing conditions peculiar to such environments. Rock pools of this nature occur in various regions of the Southern African subcontinent, including mountain ranges in the Drakensberg, the Western Cape and the Eastern Free State. They also occur in arid regions such as South-Eastern Botswana. The rock pools that Branchipodopsis species inhabit are notable for the water's clarity and its very low electrolytic conductivity (generally below 50µS per centimetre, commonly less than 10µS per cm). Such poor conductivity reflects a very low content of soluble salts, acids or bases, in strong contrast to the conditions preferred by the related family Artemiidae, the brine shrimps. It also implies a very low content of soluble mineral materials, including mineral nutrients, from the surrounding rock. The pools also are shallow, less than deep, as a rule. Their low mineral content sharply limits their buffering capacity and one result is that they are subject to major shifts in pH; a range between pH 4 and pH 11 is nothing unusual in some regions. Such variations are subject to the time of day and the water cycle variables. Water temperature in such shallow, exposed pools also varies dramatically according to evaporation, ambient air temperature and solar heating, as affected by