[1][2] Together with other similar-sized non-copepod fresh-water crustaceans, especially cladocera, they are commonly called water fleas.

The broadly oval front section comprises the head and the first five thoracic segments.

It lives along the plant-covered banks of stagnant and slow-flowing bodies of water, where it feeds on small fragments of plant material, animals (such as nematodes), or carrion.

Cyclops has the capacity to survive unsuitable conditions by forming a cloak of slime.

[citation needed] Cyclops is intermediate host of dracunculiasis (guinea-worm disease) and fish tapeworm (Diphyllobothrium latum) infection.