An annotated checklist of the main representatives of meiobenthos from inland water bodies of Central and Southern Vietnam. III. Water fleas (Cladocera) Gusakov, Vladimir A. Dien, Tran Duc Tran, Hoan Quoc Thanh, Nguyen Thi Hai Huan, Phan Trong Ha, Vo Thi Dinh, Cu Nguyen Zootaxa 2025 2025-03-28 5613 3 401 455 (Daday, 1898) Daday 1898 [210,606,1770,1797] Branchiopoda Chydoridae Leberis Animalia Anomopoda 16 417 Arthropoda species punctatus   Localities and specimens found: 30– 1♀; 46– 1♀; 50– 17♀, 1♀ov, 3♀em, 5j; 51– 1♀.   Distribution and ecology.  Leberis punctatus(formerly  Alona punctataDaday, 1898) is a comparatively rare member of the genus recently redescribed in detail ( Neretina & Sinev 2016). The species is generally distributed in the Afrotropical and Oriental biogeographic realms but is also recorded in southern Spain( Korovchinsky et al.2021b). In the Oriental area,  Leberis punctatushas so far been known only in Sri Lanka, Indiaand Thailand( Padhye& Dumont 2015; Neretina & Sinev 2016; Sinev 2016; Sharma & Sharma 2017; Korovchinsky et al.2021b). The present study is the first direct reference of this species in Vietnam. The record of  L. diaphanus(King, 1853)in our previous report on the meiofauna of Vietnam( Gusakov et al.2014) should also be attributed to  L. punctatus(as we established after re-examination of the material). In turn,  L. diaphanusis also known in Vietnam( Sinev & Korovchinsky 2013; Phan et al.2015; Sinev & Semenyuk 2021). The lifestyle and ecology of  L. punctatusare weakly studied. Most likely, this chydorid is a typical littoral inhabitant associated with vegetation (Sinev 2016; Korovchinsky et al.2021b). The species occurs in different typesof water bodies ( Neretina & Sinev 2016). We found it in two natural vegetation-rich lakes, on the bottom and in the roots of floating plants. Among the roots of water hyacinth, this crustacean was the most numerous (see Appendix 1).   Remarks.In South and Southeast Asia,  L. punctatusis occurring together with another very similar, more common relative:  L. diaphanus( Neretina & Sinev 2016; Sinev 2016). It cannot be ruled out that some previous indications of  L. diaphanusin the region actually refer to  L. punctatus, which confirms our example of an initially erroneous report that the former species was found in Vietnamese material instead of the latter (see note above). Thus,  L. punctatusis likely to be more widespread in the Oriental region than currently believed.