Leptodora kindtii is found in temperate lakes across the Northern Hemisphere and is probably the only water flea species ever described in a newspaper; L. richardi is only known from eastern Russia.

For most of the year, Leptodora reproduces parthenogenetically, with males only appearing late in the season, to produce winter eggs which hatch the following spring.

[5] Lilljeborg notes:[6] Das Weibchen ist in so hohem Grade durchsichtig, in wahrem Sinne »wasserhell», dass oft nur die Bewegungen ihr Dasein in dem Wasser verrathen.

Bei auffallendem Sonnenlicht wird gewöhnlich der Schatten früher als das Thier selbst entdeckt.The female is transparent to such a high degree, literally "as clear as water", that her presence is often only given away by her movements.

[4] Leptodora kindtii is a voracious predator and is capable of controlling numbers of its preferred prey items,[10] which are generally juveniles of Daphnia, Bosmina, Ceriodaphnia, Diaphanosoma, Diaptomus, Polyphemus and Cyclops.

[4] It seems to encounter its prey by chance, with contact initiating a reflex, in which the abdomen is brought forward to close the feeding basket.

[14] Features which separate it from other families include its large size, the lack of branchial appendages (gills) on its legs, the reduction of the carapace, and the fact that the winter eggs hatch as nauplii.

[15] The German microscopist Gustav Woldemar Focke organised a scientific meeting in Bremen in 1844 together with the pharmacist Georg Christian Kindt.

He studied the fauna of the ditches surrounding the city (the Bremer Stadtgraben) and displayed live specimens at the meeting.