SAND FLEA

also called sand hopper, beach flea, or beach hopper any of several terrestrial crustaceans of the family Talitridae (order Amphipoda) that are notable for their hopping ability. The European sand flea (Talitrus saltator), which is about 1.5 centimetres (0.6 inch) long, lives on sand beaches near the high-tide mark, remaining buried in the sand during daytime and emerging at night to forage for food. Like other sand fleas, it feeds on organic debris. The long-horned sand flea (T. longicornis), which is found on the Atlantic coast of North America from New England to the Gulf of Mexico, is named for its antennae, which are as long as the body. It grows to 2.5 centimetres (1 inch) long, and is waxy white. In habit it resembles T. saltator. The common sand flea (Orchestia agilis or O. platensis), which is found on the coast of Europe and on the eastern Atlantic coasts of the Americas from Greenland to Argentina, is about 1 centimetre (0.4 inch) in length and is mostly dark brown or gray; the tail is bluish, and the antennae are reddish brown. It lives in damp sand.