Friday 22 November 2013

Epimeria oxicarinata

Image: WoRMS for SMEBD
It's Sonic the Amphipod!

E. oxicarinata lives in the Antarctic at depths of 130 to 230 metres (430 to 750 feet) and... that's everything I know about it. Yaaaaay!

Image: WoRMS for SMEBD
They belong to the Epimeriidae family, which is itself very diverse - it contains suspension feeders who grab food as it drifts in the water, others who take food from the sea floor, scavengers, predators of small things, predators of big things... everything except herbivores. They live too deep for algae.

There are some members of the family who barely ever move, which is not the Sonic lifestyle at all!

Which is all to say that I'm pretty sure E. oxicarinata is not a herbivore. And if it turns out they're one of those sedentary species then at least they look good as they laze!

2 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

they're quite pretty!

Joseph JG said...

Yes, very nice colours!