| Platorchestia platensis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Male and female | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Amphipoda |
| Family: | Talitridae |
| Genus: | Platorchestia |
| Species: | P. platensis |
| Binomial name | |
| Platorchestia platensis (Krøyer, 1845) | |
| Synonyms [1] | |
Orchestia agilis | |
Platorchestia platensis is a species of sand flea, an amphipod crustacean that lives on beaches. [2]
In common with other sand fleas of the family Talitridae, P. platensis lives above the littoral zone in moist sand or rotting seaweed. [2] There appears to be competitive exclusion between P. platensis and the native Orchestia gammarellus on European beaches. [2]
The native range of P. platensis is not known in detail, [2] but it is probably circumtropical. [3] The species description was based on specimens collected near the commercial port of Montevideo, and the species probably spreads through ship's ballast. [2] It was first discovered in northern Europe in 1860 on a beach near Humlebæk, Denmark. [2] By the 1940s, it was common on both sides of the Kattegat; it reached the Netherlands around 1950, and the United Kingdom in 1978. [2]
Platorchestia platensis was originally described as Orchestia platensis by Henrik Nikolai Krøyer in 1845, based on type material from the Río de la Plata in Uruguay. [2]
