amphipod

[am-fuh-pod]

noun

1. any of numerous small, flat-bodied crustaceans of the group Amphipoda, including the beach fleas, sand hoppers, etc.

adjective

1. of or relating to the amphipods.

amphipod

/ ˈæmfɪˌpɒd /

noun

1. any marine or freshwater crustacean of the order Amphipoda, such as the sand hoppers, in which the body is laterally compressed: subclass Malacostraca

adjective

1. of, relating to, or belonging to the Amphipoda

Word History and Origins

Origin of amphipod¹

1825–35; < New Latin Amphipoda; amphi-, -pod

Example Sentences

The rocks are densely covered by Bathymodiolus mussels, tube worms, shrimp, amphipods, and vivid purple sea cucumbers.

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The amphipod was discovered at a depth of 2,602 meters in a mussel bed within the Galápagos Rift hydrothermal vent fields.

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Declining prey, including tiny shrimp-like amphipods, in the whales’ summer feeding grounds in the Arctic probably caused by warming water are thought to be a major contributor to their starvation deaths and reduced birth rates.

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“Often they feed by diving to the bottom and sifting big gulps of sediment through their baleen, consuming the amphipods in great numbers,” Milstein said.

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The whale will naturally decompose, creating a “huge nutrient boost for the local environment,” feeding scavengers like eagles and ravens, down to little amphipods, Boothe said.

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