Gammarus | |
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Gammarus pulex | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Amphipoda |
Family: | Gammaridae |
Genus: | Gammarus Fabricius, 1775 |
Type species | |
Gammarus pulex | |
Synonyms | |
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Gammarus is an amphipod crustacean genus in the family Gammaridae. It contains more than 200 described species, making it one of the most species-rich genera of crustaceans. [2] Different species have different optimal conditions, particularly in terms of salinity, and different tolerances; Gammarus pulex , for instance, is a purely freshwater species, while Gammarus locusta is estuarine, only living where the salinity is greater than 25‰. [3]
Species of Gammarus are the typical "scuds" of North America and range widely throughout the Holarctic. A considerable number are also found southwards into the Northern Hemisphere tropics, particularly in Southeast Asia. [4]
The following species are included: [5] Four new species were found in 2018 on the Tibetan Plateau. [6] Four more new species were described from the Chihuahuan Desert in 2021. [7]