''Urothoe'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of extant taxon, living and fossil organisms as well as Virus classification#ICTV classification, viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus com ...

of very small marine

amphipod Amphipoda is an order of malacostracan crustaceans with no carapace and generally with laterally compressed bodies. Amphipods range in size from and are mostly detritivores or scavengers. There are more than 9,900 amphipod species so far descr ...

crustacean Crustaceans (Crustacea, ) form a large, diverse arthropod taxon which includes such animals as decapods, seed shrimp, branchiopods, fish lice, krill, remipedes, isopods, barnacles, copepods, amphipods and mantis shrimp. The crustacean group ...

s in the

family Family (from la, familia) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). The purpose of the family is to maintain the well-being of its ...

Urothoidae Urothoidae is a family of small marine amphipod crustaceans. Members of the family are found worldwide and are mainly detritivores and interface grazers, though some are also facultative filter feeder Filter feeders are a sub-group of suspensi ...

. Members of the genus are found worldwide.

Biology

Urothods are long and live on the sea bed or in shallow

burrow An Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of sh ...

s in

gravel Gravel is a loose aggregation of rock fragments. Gravel occurs naturally throughout the world as a result of sedimentary and erosive geologic processes; it is also produced in large quantities commercially as crushed stone. Gravel is classifi ...

ly substrates or muddy sand. They can swim for short distances. They are vulnerable to

dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing da ...

but are able to recover afterwards and re-establish their burrows. They are deposit feeders and also selectively scrape

microorganism A microorganism, or microbe,, ''mikros'', "small") and ''organism'' from the el, ὀργανισμός, ''organismós'', "organism"). It is usually written as a single word but is sometimes hyphenated (''micro-organism''), especially in olde ...

s from grains of sand.

Reproduction

''Urothoe'' reaches

sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans it might be considered synonymous with adulthood, but here puberty is the name for the process of biological sexual maturation, while adulthood is based on cultural definitio ...

at five months and may live for about a year. The sexes are distinct and breeding takes place in the summer months. Fertilisation is

internal Internal may refer to: *Internality as a concept in behavioural economics *Neijia, internal styles of Chinese martial arts *Neigong or "internal skills", a type of exercise in meditation associated with Daoism *''Internal (album)'' by Safia, 2016 ...

and there are about fifteen

eggs Humans and human ancestors have scavenged and eaten animal eggs for millions of years. Humans in Southeast Asia had domesticated chickens and harvested their eggs for food by 1,500 BCE. The most widely consumed eggs are those of fowl, especial ...

per brood, produced in a cycle of about fifteen days.

Fecundity Fecundity is defined in two ways; in human demography, it is the potential for reproduction of a recorded population as opposed to a sole organism, while in population biology, it is considered similar to fertility, the natural capability to pr ...

is high and the juveniles grow fast but

biological dispersal Biological dispersal refers to both the movement of individuals (animals, plants, fungi, bacteria, etc.) from their birth site to their breeding site ('natal dispersal'), as well as the movement from one breeding site to another ('breeding dis ...

is very limited.

Species

''Urothoe'' contains the following species: *'' Urothoe atlantica'' Bellan-Santini & Menioui, 2004 *'' Urothoe bairdii'' Bate, 1862 *'' Urothoe brevicornis'' Bate, 1862 *'' Urothoe carda'' Imbach, 1969 *'' Urothoe chosani'' Hirayama, 1992 *'' Urothoe convexa'' Kim & Kim, 1991 *'' Urothoe corsica'' Bellan-Santini, 1965 *'' Urothoe coxalis'' Griffiths, 1974 *'' Urothoe cuspis'' Imbach, 1969 *'' Urothoe dentata'' Schellenberg, 1925 *'' Urothoe denticulata'' Gurjanova, 1951 *'' Urothoe elegans'' (Bate, 1857) *'' Urothoe elizae'' Cooper & Fincham, 1974 *'' Urothoe falcata'' Schellenberg, 1931 *'' Urothoe femoralis'' K. H. Barnard, 1955 *'' Urothoe gelasina'' Imbach, 1969 *'' Urothoe grimaldii'' Chevreux, 1895 *'' Urothoe hesperiae'' Conradi, Lopez-Gonzalez & Bellan-Santini, 1997 *'' Urothoe intermedia'' Bellan-Santini & Ruffo, 1986 *'' Urothoe irrostratus'' Dana, 1852 *'' Urothoe latifrons'' Ren, 1991 *''

Urothoe marina ''Urothoe marina'' is a species of small marine amphipod crustaceans in the family Urothoidae. It is found on and burrowing in coarse sediments in shallow coastal waters off northwestern Europe. Description ''U. marina'' is about long, cresce ...

'' (Bate, 1857) *'' Urothoe marionis'' Bellan-Santini & Ledoyer, 1987 *'' Urothoe oniscoides'' (K. H. Barnard, 1932) *'' Urothoe orientalis'' Gurjanova, 1938 *'' Urothoe pestai'' Spandl, 1923 *'' Urothoe pinnata'' K. H. Barnard, 1955 *'' Urothoe platydactyla'' Rabindranath, 1971 *'' Urothoe platypoda'' Griffiths, 1974 *'' Urothoe poseidonis'' Reibish, 1905 *'' Urothoe poucheti'' Chevreux, 1888 *'' Urothoe pulchella'' (Costa, 1853) *'' Urothoe rotundifrons'' J. L. Barnard, 1962 *'' Urothoe ruber'' Giles, 1888 *'' Urothoe serrulidactylus'' K. H Barnard, 1955 *'' Urothoe spinidigitata'' Walker, 1904 *'' Urothoe tumorosa'' Griffiths, 1974 *'' Urothoe varvarini'' Gurjanova, 1953 *'' Urothoe vemae'' J.L. Barnard, 1962 *'' Urothoe viswanathi'' Asari, 1998 *'' Urothoe wellingtonensis'' Cooper, 1974

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q3934377 Gammaridea Amphipod genera