Knowra Amphipoda Amphipoda Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans whose members are typically laterally compressed and lack a carapace. Its species live in marine, freshwater, and terrestrial habitats.
Malacostraca : Malacostraca is the largest class of crustaceans, including crabs, lobsters, shrimp, and amphipods. Amphipoda belongs to this class, whose shared body plan provides a broader frame for comparison.
Thoracopod : A thoracopod is a limb attached to a crustacean’s thorax, often adapted for walking, feeding, or swimming. Amphipods use thoracic limbs for locomotion and, in females, to help form the brood pouch.
Hyalella azteca : Hyalella azteca is a freshwater amphipod widely used in sediment toxicity tests. Its sensitivity to contaminants makes it a standard species for assessing polluted freshwater sediments.
Isopoda : Isopoda is an order of crustaceans that includes woodlice and marine, freshwater, and parasitic species. Isopods are close peracarid relatives, but are usually dorsoventrally flattened rather than laterally compressed.
Peracarida : Peracarida is a superorder of malacostracan crustaceans characterized by a brood pouch formed from thoracic plates. Amphipods are peracarid crustaceans, and their eggs develop in a female’s brood pouch.
Pleopod : A pleopod is a paired abdominal appendage in crustaceans, commonly used for swimming or ventilation. Amphipods beat these abdominal limbs to swim and move water across the body.
Corophium volutator : Corophium volutator is a burrowing amphipod common in intertidal mudflats of the North Atlantic. Its burrowing and population responses help researchers study estuarine sediment ecology and pollution.
Decapoda : Decapoda is an order of crustaceans that includes crabs, lobsters, and shrimp. Decapods generally have a carapace and five pairs of walking legs, unlike the typical amphipod body plan.
Carapace : A carapace is a hard anatomical covering over part or most of an arthropod’s body. The absence of this covering is a defining feature distinguishing amphipods from many other crustaceans.
Brood pouch : A brood pouch is a chamber in which an animal carries developing eggs or embryos. Female amphipods hold eggs in a pouch formed by plates on the thoracic limbs.
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