[1] Burkenroad's classification replaced the earlier sub-orders of Natantia and Reptantia with the monophyletic groups Dendrobranchiata (prawns) and Pleocyemata.

All members of the Pleocyemata are united by a number of features, the most important of which is that the fertilised eggs are incubated by the female, and remain stuck to the pleopods (swimming legs) until the zoea larvae are ready to hatch.

Pleocyemata also possess a lamellar gill structure as opposed to the branches found in the Dendrobranchiata.

The cladogram below shows Pleocyemata as the sister clade to Dendrobranchiata within the larger order Decapoda, from analysis by Wolfe et al., 2019.

Pleocyemata comprises the following infraorders:[3] The earliest fossil representative is the Devonian Palaeopalaemon.