Marine flea (crustaceans-amphipods, gammarus): photo, description. What hides the sand under your feet

During the summer holidays many families go on vacation to the seaside, hoping to have a good time surrounded by close people, take a dip in warm water, sunbathe on the beach. But most of them do not even suspect that the inhabitants live in this flowing sand, from which the children can build towers, locks and sculpt kulichki for hours.

Gammarus - who are they?

Few people know that the name of this inhabitant is "sand flea". Bites of a small crustacean creature can not only bring pain, but also completely ruin the entire vacation.

In the scientific world of fleas living in sea sand, called gammarus. About their existence, few know, and even if they have such an idea, they adhere to a mistaken opinion, thinking that the habitat of small bloodsuckers is somewhere on the far southern shores. This opinion does not coincide with reality. Sandy beaches of the middle belt have become practically homemade for gammarus, and from the possibility of getting a bite from them is not insured by any vacationer.

People who live in close proximity to the seashore know about the existence of parasites from the Talitridae family, calling them beach fleas. But here vacationers, who have come from afar, hardly realize that the sand under their feet and seaweed just teem with these creatures.

Description of appearance

Representatives Gammarus is not so easy to consider. Having a size of about 1 mm, parasites are able to make jumps in length to 30-40 mm. Such acrobatic numbers of the flea can be realized due to their long legs, since they have no wings. But the length of the jump is forty times larger than the size of a tiny crustacean body.

Looking closely, you can see the similarity of fleas to shrimp. They have a dark brown color, and the body is divided into segments. The main difference between shrimp and Gammarus is the size. Marine fleas are much smaller than their relatives. There is an opinion that parasites belong to the family of common fleas that live in wool in cats and dogs.

The coastal sand of African, Indian beaches is filled with these inhabitants. Meet them in Thailand, Vietnam and the Caribbean. The ejected seaweed, scattered along the coastal line, is a favorite place of residence for flea colonies. Hiding from the sunlight, the crustaceans find shelter in themselves, as well as food.

Incidentally, large accumulations of amphibiotic crustaceans, swarming in the sand, emit howling quiet sounds, after hearing which, it is better to go away from the surf line.

Crustaceans, amphipods before nightfall, burrow into deep sand layers, but literally with the advent of moonlight they are activated. And at sunrise they crawl to the surface.

Laboratory studies have shown that the creatures described can tolerate temperature fluctuations from 0 to +25 degrees. But digging out of sand for them is fraught with death.

The danger of marine flea bites

A marine flea can bite a person. As a rule, this can occur in places where there is a congestion of such crustaceans. Drinking blood, they leave places of bites, accompanied by itching. You can firmly say that for a person is not so harmless gammarus.

The photo presented in the article will help to consider his oral apparatus, capable of piercing the skin of the victim. By inflicting a bite, the female is implanted under the skin and feeds on the blood it needs to mature the future offspring. Due to this, its size increases to the size of a ripe pea, and after the eggs are ripe the flea shoots them, and itself perishes, leaving its victims in the skin of the victim. They cause the processes of suppuration and pain.

In medical terminology, inflamed wounds after a flea bite are called sarcopsellosis or tungiosis.

Signs of a female bite

Biting, small crustaceans cause a minor discomfort to a person, comparable to a mosquito bite. But if the female bites, the symptoms change significantly, namely:

• The place of the bite swells;
• There is a white abscess;
• There is pain;
• The center of the bite is marked by a black dot - the belly of the female.

Consequences of a bite

If you neglect to damage the crustaceans of the skin, comb it and do not take any measures, the consequences can be deplorable. In medical practice, there are cases when a sea flea, biting a person, provoked the formation of sepsis, which entailed the amputation of the toes.

The most accessible places for lesions are the lower limbs, buttocks, groin area, the space between the fingers, the lower parts of the ankles.

It is important to remember that when you come to the beach, you should not settle in places where sand under your feet is lined with algae - a favorite habitat for crustaceans.

Seven Tips for Holidaymakers

But not everything is so terrible, because marine fleas live side by side for more than one century. If you adhere to simple rules of conduct, you can avoid the unpleasant consequences of their bites:

1. Do not go for a walk on the beach area in the early morning and after sunset. This is the time of flea activity.
2. Remember that the algae thrown out by the surf are the habitats of Gammarus.
3. Use on the beach special shoes, do not go barefoot.
4. Use for lying sunbeds.
5. Try to relax in specially prepared beach areas.
6. After visiting the beach, inspect your body and especially your legs.
7. If you are bitten by a sea flea, consult a doctor.

Treatment of bites

In the case of a bite with noticeable redness, tightening of the skin and pain, you should not try to remove the flea yourself. The probability of damage to its body is great, since its particles can remain under the skin, causing suppuration. Such manipulation should be carried out in the nearest medical institution.

Itching after a bite will help to remove creams with anesthetic effect and antihistamines. At home, soda compresses will be a good anti-inflammatory agent.

Benefits for Beach Ecology

Scientists-ecologists have proved that fleas naturally clean coastal sand, feeding on microorganisms living in it. However, they, of course, are unable to process pieces of cigarette steers, chips, meat - all that negligent vacationers leave behind in the vicinity of the city beach.

Crawling out of their shelters in the evening, the crustaceans clean and coastal waters. Small pouches in the front paws allow them to breathe oxygen.

It is not necessary to panic and deprive yourself of sea rest, thinking about bites and their consequences. Gammarus, whose photo you see in the article, is not so terrible. If you follow the elementary rules of caution, it will not prevent any rest.

Interesting Facts

1. Modern scientists described 2086 species of fleas.
2. The British Museum stores a collection of these creatures, which was collected by Charles Rothschild - a banker and entomologist.
3. A flea that has hatched from a pupa immediately looks for a host animal to settle on it. As a rule, it is a representative of mammals.
4. The flea can carry infectious diseases from one host to another.
5. The feet of sea fleas are of different sizes and serve for different actions. Some help to swim, others to run.
6. Gammarus has four stages of life: an egg, a larva, a pupa, an adult.
7. The components of the saliva of marine fleas can cause allergic reactions.
8. The period of maturation of egg laying is about 7 days.
9. Gammarus are a semi-arctic lifestyle, spending time in the coastal zone of the beaches and in the sea depth, but they always try to get out on land.

If it were not for the existence of crustaceans, our beaches would be buried in the remains of dead snails, mollusks and jellyfish.