[1] Its body is subcylindrical, and around 0.5 inches (13 mm) long, mostly transparent, but with black eyes, and red tips to the appendages and abdomen.

[2] The mouthparts comprise a labrum, directed backwards over the mouth and pairs of mandibles, paragnatha, maxillules and vestigial maxillae.

[2] There is no carapace,[1] but each of the eleven free segments bears a pair of phyllopodia, which have a series of bristles pointing along the animal's midline.

[2] Chirocephalus diaphanus is a Mediterranean species, which reaches its north-western limit in Great Britain, and is missing from Fennoscandia.

[3] Its distribution in Western Europe extends almost continuously from Great Britain to the Iberian Peninsula, and as far east as the Rhine in Germany.

[5][6] Further east, it occurs south of 47°N in the Apennine and Balkan peninsulas, reaching the Black Sea in Romania; an isolated population exists at the mouth of the Vistula river in Poland.

[3] The fairy shrimp is found in temporary pools of water, from seasonal ponds to muddy ruts, preferring sites with regular disturbance, such as passing tractors or livestock.

It has a broad range of ecological tolerances, in terms of temperature, dissolved oxygen and pH, but cannot coexist with predatory fish.

[8] The main threat to its survival are changes in land use: its habitats are often considered unsightly, and the temporary pools it inhabits are frequently filled in or converted into permanent ponds.

[9] The situation was clarified by Bénédict Prévost in 1803, when he published a detailed description of Chirocephalus diaphanus, including mention of the frontal appendages which distinguish it from other fairy shrimp such as Tanymastix stagnalis.