Sand Flea facts: actually a crustacean | Animal Fact Files

Sand fleas aren't fleas - they aren't even insects! Now, there are other animals commonly called sand fleas that are actually flea, but they have another commonly used name, so we've decided to talk about these NOT fleas instead. ;) Sand fleas are named so because they have amazing jumping abilities! They some pretty amazing crustaceans because some of them, most commonly known as lawn shrimp, are wholly terrestrial! They're some of the only crustaceans that have been able to move from water to land (though they do still require moisture to keep from drying out!).
Scientific Name: Family - Talitridae
Range: nearly worldwide but lacking from polar regions
Size: 5 to 20mm (less than an inch)
Diet: algae, detritus, etc.
Lifespan: about a year
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Image and Video Credits:
Joseph B Small Jr - kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z32wpn58rKiEmc0
Linda Tanner - www.flickr.com/photos/goingslo/21349509884
Andrew Cannizzaro - www.flickr.com/photos/acryptozoo/33324213826
Donald Hobern - www.flickr.com/photos/dhobern/42869732030
Franco Folini - www.flickr.com/photos/78425154@N00/7384737074
Greg Schechter - www.flickr.com/photos/gregthebusker/6091171738; www.flickr.com/photos/gregthebusker/6090629417
Don Henise - www.flickr.com/photos/kiskadee_3/50197513742
Dluogs - www.flickr.com/photos/dluogs/8981145405; www.flickr.com/photos/dluogs/8981146481; www.flickr.com/photos/dluogs/8981143349
Jerry Kirkhart - www.flickr.com/photos/jkirkhart35/423778680
Arnold Paul - en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Talitrus_saltator_2a.jpg
NO67 - commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Platorchestia_pacifica_male.jpg
Philipp Weigell - commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tunga_penetrans_(1).JPG
Jinkster1313 - commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Emerita_talpoida,_aka_Atlantic_mole_crab.jpg
Chris 73 - commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Shrimp_on_cutting_board.jpg
Ryan Elliott - www.inaturalist.org/photos/83165949; www.inaturalist.org/photos/83166018
Adam Jackson - www.inaturalist.org/photos/20972760
Kaldari - www.inaturalist.org/photos/31595156
Mirko Schoenitz - www.inaturalist.org/photos/36854986
Peter de Lange - www.inaturalist.org/photos/42059361; www.inaturalist.org/photos/42059610
Anna - www.inaturalist.org/photos/46240786
Randal - www.inaturalist.org/photos/49966865; www.inaturalist.org/photos/49966902; www.inaturalist.org/photos/49966894; www.inaturalist.org/photos/49966886; www.inaturalist.org/photos/90882710; www.inaturalist.org/photos/90922940; www.inaturalist.org/photos/90922958
Research Credits:
www.google.com/books/edition/The_Light_and_Smith_Manual/64jgZ1CfmB8C
www.google.com/books/edition/Selected_Studies_in_Biodiversity/UvyPDwAAQBAJ
www.google.com/books/edition/Zoological_Catalogue_of_Australia/Y5LTA9bAHqYC
www.google.com/books/edition/VIIth_International_Colloquium_on_Amphip/dHb8CAAAQBAJ
www.google.com/books/edition/The_Biodiversity_Crisis_and_Crustacea_Pr/dgI2o3xRbMYC
www.google.com/books/edition/Latin_American_Insects_and_Entomology/3CTf8bnlndwC
www.google.com/books/edition/Treatise_on_Zoology_Anatomy_Taxonomy_Bio/JHm9BwAAQBAJ
www.gbif.org/species/164133535
bugguide.net/node/view/48650
edis.ifas.ufl.edu/in377
zslpublications.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1469-7998.1978.tb03278.x
tinyurl.com/y3j39mae
eprints.lib.hokudai.ac.jp/dspace/bitstream/2115/27016/1/6(4)_P255-296.pdf

[@proffesserm6008]

Of course I’m studying amphipods and this pops up out of now where ...I am in tune with the universe thank you animal fact files..🙏🙏

[@AnimalFactFiles]

Oh sounds like an awesome field of study!

[@joelperez6600]

The algorithm *^

[@dqw4w9wgxcq32]

Great video as always! Personal suggestion is a video on Cranes. Thanks! :)

[@AnimalFactFiles]

This is a great suggestion, I'll add it to the list. Thanks! 😊

[@rinfelaralte8158]

I never seen a sand fleas in my life.. but Yes! I've search for this videos.

[@AnimalFactFiles]

Now you know more about something you didn't before =D

[@rinfelaralte8158]

@@AnimalFactFiles yes.. thanks a lot🥰👍

[@glaceonletsitgo8704]

Loved this!!!

[@duskadown6751]

sand crabs!! :D I love finding them under the sand and waves on beaches

[@AnimalFactFiles]

You must be good at scoping them out!

[@elisasoaresalmada9115]

I used this video as a theme for my classes! Thank you very much!

[@AnimalFactFiles]

You're most welcome! Glad it was helpful!

[@kamronkamren5428]

Thanks for taking my suggestion

[@AnimalFactFiles]

Thanks for the idea!

[@serminkran1320]

Wow these are amazing animals Youre the best

[@AnimalFactFiles]

Glad you enjoyed it! 💜

[@EphemeralProductions]

Watching these skitter around is cute and funny. 😁

[@praisesol2740]

So I'm aware of the difference between the borrowing sand crabs and sand fleas,that they often get mixed up due to colloquial terms being interchangable between the two groups. But my question is why are they considered such a burden to the trainee marines of paris island if their diet consists of seaweed?

[@gerrys4822]

You think you're eating shrimp at Red Lobster???? Uh-uh...Guess again! Lol

[@AnimalFactFiles]

💀🤡

[@BlazinRaisi]

Y’all call these things sand fleas? I used to call these lil buggers snacks 😋 bussin bussin

[@eonsmith9508]

So why is there a bunch of videos with people that have infested feet along side videos like this?

[@karasgold]

To hell with that im never going to a beach ever again

[@frankenstein6677]

Sand fleas are not harmful to humans in any way. They are just little crustaceans.

[@Rain_Sound10]

are they eatable ?

[@igris6128]

Weird I used to have these on my backyard when I was a kid the thing is that it was very far from the ocean in 🇨🇷

[@AnimalFactFiles]

Oh maybe you had the kinds called "lawn shrimp" in your backyard?

[@n1msu]

@@AnimalFactFiles I'm guessing a woodlouse/lice as we call them in England, we have another type that can roll into a ball that we call pea bugs. No wonder this species is ancient, it has adapted to so many dierent environments. The deep sea Isopod is the penultimate adaptation though IMO.

[@n1msu]

I had no above the pea bugs had gills though. They're usually ound living under a rock in moist soil. Brilliant ino

[@KonradvonHotzendorf]

Who else ended here because they watched a video on someone cooking and eating fleas?

[@AnimalFactFiles]

What!? I haven't seen that!

[@KonradvonHotzendorf]

@@AnimalFactFiles Yeah. Watched a clip called 'How to catch and cook fleas '. I was wondering what he was eating 😅, more interested in the biology than eating them😊

[@frankenstein6677]

You'd struggle to find a crustacean that isn't both edible and delicious to be honest.

[@wannacashmeoutside]

Omg that’s why I see so many videos of people cooking them and I was like whyyyyyyy but now it makes more sense ;) little crustacean= yum little flea=no

[@AnimalFactFiles]

Haha glad it cleared that up for you ❤️

[@Tommybotham]

“Actually a crustacean”.... like crustaceans aren’t just insects that live in the sea -_-

[@frankenstein6677]

Insects and crustaceans descend from the same group of marine arthropods, but are very different groups. Insects are hexapods within Pancrustacea, a taxon that includes crustaceans and many lesser known and extinct groups. If you consider all pancrustaceans to be crustaceans, insects are land crustaceans, not the opposite.

[@FrOgFrIeND753]

Are these the same as jiggers? Xx

[@frankenstein6677]

No. That's explained in the video. Jiggers are actual fleas with no close relation to these.

[@kamotecruiser4083]

My cat ain't jumping that far

[@AntonioGomez-zr3qg]

Whoever disliked it can go kick rocks. This is fascinating.

[@Tommybotham]

I disliked because it ended up being a PowerPoint presentation with pictures. That’s boring, no one comes on to KZbin for that.

[@tinyGrim1]

Interesting.. gross, buy interesting. TY!

[@AnimalFactFiles]

Thanks for watching!

[@Blank-zn2zk]

Who's here because of the KZbin Short?

[@AnimalFactFiles]

Oh was there a Short? Do you have a link?

[@helenayount507]

Me

[@imfallingandmynuthurt7369]

Delicious 🤤

[@evandugas7888]

I am wondering if you can cook them... they may taste like mini lobster