Genus Weltneria Berndt, 1907

Weltneria Berndt, 1907: 289 .

Diagnosis. Females with five pairs of biramous terminal cirri, two-segmented caudal appendages. This is considered plesiomorphic, as this represents the ground pattern for all thecostracans (Kolbasov & Newman, 2005). Lateral bars weak or absent, orificial knob absent. Dwarf males pear-shaped, tapering towards the top, no lateral projections, attachment antennules with stalk absent (Chan, Hsieh & Kolbasov, 2014).

Remarks. At present, there are 12 Weltneria species globally (Kolbasov, Chan & Cheng, 2017). Two of these occur in South Africa, of which W. spinosa is endemic.