Milne-Edwards, 1830

Description:
Coxal plate 2 distal margin concave. Epimeral plate 3 posterodistal margin smooth, irregularly rounded. Antennae densely setose. Gnathopod 1 propodus much smaller than carpus, both triangular, setose, palm delimited by obtuse angle. Female gnathopod 2 carpus with narrow setose posterior lobe, propodus oval, palm convex delimited by 2-3 small spines. Male gnathopod 2 carpus elongate, robust, carpal process simple, more or less elongate, propodus variable may be oval with inner margin irregularly keeled, or in some large specimens may be long and narrow with margins more or less smooth, dactylus only moderately robust.

Size:
Up to 10 mm.

Habitat:
Depth range from extreme low-water to 200 metres, builds tubes of mud and fine sand attached to algae or hydroid growths.

Distribution:
North Atlantic; North Pacific; Arctic Ocean; European coasts from northern Norway to Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Kingdom Animalia
Phylum Arthropoda
Class Crustacea
Subclass Malacostraca
Superorder Peracarida
Order Amphipoda
Suborder Gammaridea
Family Ischyroceridae
Genus Ericthonius
Species difformis

Status in World Register of Marine Species

Accepted name: Ericthonius difformis Milne-Edwards, 1830

Scientific synonyms and common names

Cerapus difformis Bate, 1862
Erichthonius difformis Sars, 1894
Cerapus hunteri Bate, 1862
Ericthonius hunteri Stebbing, 1906
Erichthonius hunteri Sars, 1894

Myers, A.A. & D. McGrath, 1984. A revision of the North-east Atlantic species of Ericthonius (Crustacea: Amphipoda). Journal of the Marine Biological Association of the U.K., 64(2): 379-400.

You can continue searching for Ericthonius difformis on one of these Web sites:

Fauna Europaea (animals) | IOPI (plants) | NCBI (genetic)

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