Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from 1 to 340 millimetres and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far described. They are mostly marine animals, but are found in almost all aquatic environments. Some 1,900 species live in fresh water, and the order also includes the terrestrial sandhoppers such as Talitrus saltator and Arcitalitrus sylvaticus.
Thorina is a genus of amphipod crustaceans comprising the two species Thorina spinosa and Thorina elongata. They are deep-sea species, found at depths of 900 metres (3,000 ft) and 1,500–4,892 m (4,921–16,050 ft), respectively, in the North Atlantic Ocean and Arctic Ocean.
Monoporeia affinis,, is a small, yellowish benthic amphipod living in the Baltic Sea, the Arctic Sea and the lakes of the Nordic countries.
A salp or salpa is a barrel-shaped, planktonic tunicate in the family Salpidae. It moves by contracting, thereby pumping water through its gelatinous body; it is one of the most efficient examples of jet propulsion in the animal kingdom. The salp strains the pumped water through its internal feeding filters, feeding on phytoplankton.
Epimeriidae is a family of relatively large amphipods found in cold oceans around the world.
The Hyperiidea are a suborder of amphipods, small aquatic crustaceans. Unlike the other suborders of Amphipoda, hyperiids are exclusively marine and do not occur in fresh water. Hyperiids are distinguished by their large eyes and planktonic habitat. Most species of hyperiids are parasites or predators of salps and jellyfish in the plankton, although Themisto gaudichaudii and a few relatives are free-swimming predators of copepods and other small planktonic animals.
Cumacea is an order of small marine crustaceans of the superorder Peracarida, occasionally called hooded shrimp or comma shrimp. Their unique appearance and uniform body plan makes them easy to distinguish from other crustaceans. They live in soft-bottoms such as mud and sand, mostly in the marine environment. There are more than 1,500 species of cumaceans formally described. The species diversity of Cumacea increases with depth.
Themisto gaudichaudii is an amphipod crustacean of the suborder Hyperiidea.
The Hyperiidae are a family of amphipods, containing these genera:
Phronima sedentaria is a species of amphipod crustaceans found in oceans at a depth of up to 1 km (0.6 mi). They are large in size relative to other members of the family Phronimidae. Individuals may be found inside barrel-like homes, created most commonly from the tunics of select species of pelagic tunicates; Phronima females appropriate these tunics and rear their young within. P. sedentaria is known to employ multiple feeding strategies and other interesting behaviors, including daily vertical migration. The species is also known by the more common names pram bug and barrel shrimp.
Abludomelita obtusata is a brown colored species of amphipod crustacean. It may grow up to 9 millimetres (0.35 in) long and lacks a rostrum. It lives in marine sediments of any grain size, but with a preference for a mud content of 10%–40%, around the coasts of the southern North Sea.
Alicellidae is a family of amphipod crustaceans, which live as scavengers in the deep sea, often in association with hydrothermal vents. The family includes the following genera:
Themisto is a genus of marine amphipods in the family Hyperiidae. Their distribution is cosmopolitan.
Paramoera walkeri is an amphipod of the genus Paramoera. It lives around Antarctica.
Pseudamphithoides incurvaria is a species of amphipod crustacean in the family Ampithoidae. It is native to shallow water in the tropical western Atlantic Ocean where it creates a home for itself from fragments of the algae on which it feeds. This seaweed contains certain chemicals that are distasteful and protect it from predatory fish.
Caprella unica is a species of skeleton shrimp in the genus Caprella within the family Caprellidae. The larvae are plankton-like. They are relatively small, with two large and two small antennae. They only live in the sea, and are widely found in Cape Cod, Maine and Newfoundland.
Eurythenes is a genus of marine amphipods in the family Eurytheneidae.
Eurythenes thurstoni is a species of amphipod of the genus Eurythenes. It was first described in 2004 and named after Mike Thurston, a marine biologist specialising in deep-sea amphipods.
Cystisoma is a genus of amphipod. It is the only member of the family Cystisomatidae within the Hyperiidea. The genus is noted for its nearly completely transparent body, adapted for life in low light waters.
