Platorchestia platensis

Platorchestia platensis is a species of sand flea, an amphipod crustacean that lives on beaches.[2]

Platorchestia platensis
Male and female
Scientific classification
Kingdom:
Animalia
Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Order:
Amphipoda
Family:
Talitridae
Genus:
Platorchestia
Species:
P. platensis
Binomial name
Platorchestia platensis
(Krøyer, 1845)
Synonyms [1]

Orchestia agilis

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]

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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. "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. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
  3. "Platorchestia platensis, a sandhopper". Cook Islands Biodiversity Database. Cook Islands Natural Heritage Trust. 2007. Retrieved June 17, 2011.
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