Amphipoda Temporal range:
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Gammarus roeselii | |
Scientific classification ![]() | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Subclass: | Eumalacostraca |
Superorder: | Peracarida |
Order: | Amphipoda Latreille, 1816[1] |
Suborders | |
Traditional division[2] Revised division (2013)[1] |
Amphipoda (/æmˈfɪpədə/) is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods (/ˈæmfɪpɒdz/) range in size from 1 to 340 millimetres (0.039 to 13 in) 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.