Malacostracans · Cumacea · Bodotriidae

European Sand Cumacean

Cumopsis goodsir

Not Evaluated

It has not yet been assessed against the IUCN criteria. See full glossary

A minute cumacean, with a swollen carapace and a slender abdomen, which lives buried in the sand of beaches. At night the males emerge and swim in swarms over the bottom in search of females, while the females stay beneath the sand.

Size

up to 0.8 cm

Diet

Omnivore

Combines animal and plant food depending on availability.

Activity

Nocturnal

Active mainly at night.

Social structure

Colony

Lives in large concentrations, often for breeding reasons.

Sighting difficulty

Unknown

OceanOmnivore Nocturnal Colonial Ocean Crustacean

13countries 29parks 33dive sites

Fun facts

Its outline, with a swollen front end and a slender tail, has earned it the name of comma shrimp.
It is a staple in the diet of juvenile flatfish and of wading birds on sandy beaches.
Cumaceans have an unmistakable outline: a swollen carapace at the front and a long, narrow abdomen, which has earned them the name comma shrimps.
It buries itself in the sand by day and comes out to swim at night, a pattern that makes it regular prey for flatfish and waders.
It feeds by filtering the organic film and the diatoms clinging to the sand grains.