Max Size: <1.5 cm (0.5 in)
Habitat: Fresh and saltwater environments globally
Diet: Omnivorous, consume a wide range of dead and decaying organic matter, will sometimes predate smaller invertebrates
Fun Facts:
- Amphipods (meaning “both feet”) have several types of legs that serve different functions, such as walking, swimming, digging, etc
- In New York Harbor, healthy populations of Amphipods can exceed 20,000 individuals per square mile
- Amphipods feed on algae, detritus, and plankton, and are in turn a major food source for many species of fish, especially seahorses and pipefish, for which they comprise the bulk of their diet
- Distinguished from isopods by their compressiform (laterally compressed) bodies, versus the isopods’ depressiform (dorso-ventrally compressed) shape