amphipod

English

An amphipod

Etymology

From Amphipoda.

Pronunciation

• enPR: ămˈ -fĭ-pŏd
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈam.fɪ.pɑd/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈam.fɪ.pɒd/

Noun

amphipod (plural amphipods)

1. Any species of the taxonomic order Amphipoda of small, shrimp-like crustaceans.
   • 1905, Mabel Elizabeth Smallwood, The Salt-marsh Amphipod: Orchestia Palustris, Brooklyn Institute of Arts and Sciences, page 18,

     Most of these are quite large, made by the small marsh mammals, but some are small and seem to be much used by the amphipods.

   • 2001, James B. McClintock, Bill J. Baker, Deborah K. Steinberg, “5: The Chemical Ecology of Invertebrate Meroplankton and Holoplankton”, in James B. McClintock, Bill J. Baker, editors, Marine Chemical Ecology, CRC Press, page 217:

     Laboratory feeding assays employing the common antarctic planktivorous fish Pagothenia borchgrevinki demonstrated that live amphipods are consumed by fish, while amphipod-sea butterfly pairs are consistently rejected.

   • 2003, Bill Bryson, A Short History of Nearly Everything, BCA, page 212:

     We have managed just once, briefly, to send humans to that depth in a sturdy diving vessel, yet it is home to colonies of amphipods, a type of crustacean similar to shrimp but transparent, which survive without any protection at all.

Derived terms

• amphipodan
• amphipodous
• supergiant amphipod

Translations

species of order Amphipoda

• Finnish: katka (fi)
• Irish: amfapód m
• Italian: anfipode m
• Polish: obunóg m
• Portuguese: anfípode m
• Spanish: anfípodo m
• Swedish: märla (sv) c, märlkräfta c

Further reading

• Amphipoda on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• Amphipoda on Wikispecies.Wikispecies
• Category:Amphipoda on Wikimedia Commons.Wikimedia Commons