Biology:Platorchestia platensis

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Short description: Species of crustacean

Platorchestia platensis
FMIB 42836 Orchestia agalis Upper figure male, lower female Woods Hole.jpeg
Male and female
Scientific classification edit
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Superorder: Peracarida
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]

Ecology

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]

Distribution

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]

Taxonomy

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]

References

  1. D. J. Wildish (1988). "Ecology and natural history of aquatic Talitroidea". Canadian Journal of Zoology 66 (11): 2340–2359. doi:10.1139/z88-349. 
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 "Platorchestia platensis Krøyer, 1845 – a beachflea". Identification key to marine invasive species in Nordic waters. NOBANIS – European Network on Invasive Alien Species. Archived from the original on July 24, 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110724002236/http://www.nobanis.org/MarineIdkey/Small%20crustaceans/PlatorchestiaPlatensis.htm. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 
  3. "Platorchestia platensis, a sandhopper". Cook Islands Biodiversity Database. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust. 2007. http://cookislands.bishopmuseum.org/species.asp?id=14670. Retrieved June 17, 2011. 

Wikidata ☰ Q3355243 entry