Biodiversity & Conservation

An amphipod - Jassa falcata - General information

Jassa falcata

Image - Jassa falcata Image width ca XX cm.
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Distribution map

Jassa falcata recorded (dark blue bullet) and expected (light blue bullet) distribution in Britain and Ireland (see below)

Why do the maps differ?

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Jassa falcata is not listed under any importance categories.

General information

Key Icon Researched by: Jacqueline Hill Text page icon Refereed by: Prof. P. Geoff Moore

Taxonomy icon Taxonomy

Phylum Arthropoda Arthropods, joint-legged animals, e.g. insects, crustaceans & spiders
Class Malacostraca Crabs, lobsters, sand hoppers and sea slaters
Map icon Recorded distribution in Britain and Ireland Found on all British coasts. Reported from several sites around the coast of Ireland.
Habitat information icon Habitat information Jassa falcata constructs tubes from debris amongst algae, hydroid growths and on solid surfaces in sediment and areas of strong water currents such as pilings, buoys, rafts or the hulls of ships. It is an important fouling organism because the tubes of Jassa falcata often form dense mats or 'nests'. Also found in Laminaria spp. holdfasts and similar habitats.
Text page icon Description A tube dwelling amphipod, elongate and rather flattened up to 13 mm in length. Colour varied, often yellow-grey with brown, red or black patches depending the colour of the surrounding habitat. Eyes small, round and dark.

This review can be cited as follows:

Jacqueline Hill 2000. Jassa falcata. An amphipod. Marine Life Information Network: Biology and Sensitivity Key Information Sub-programme [on-line]. Plymouth: Marine Biological Association of the United Kingdom. [cited 23/05/2013]. Available from: <http://www.marlin.ac.uk/speciesfullreview.php?speciesID=3581>