Jassa marmorata explained

Jassa marmorata is a species of tube-building amphipod. It is native to the northeast Atlantic Ocean but has been introduced into northeast Asia. J. marmorata are greyish in colour with reddish brown markings. The can grow to a length of up to 10mm. They are generally found in fouling communities and intertidal areas where they build tubes of detritus and algae fragments using silky mucus secretions.^[1] ^[2] ^[3] They are remarkable for having two distinct morphs of males with two different mating strategies. The 'major' morphs are fighter males, while the 'minor' morphs are sneaker males.^[4]

J. marmorata is classified under the genus Jassa of the family Ischyroceridae. They are commonly confused with the closely related scud (Jassa falcata).^[5]

Notes and References

Web site: Crustaceans found in Guernsey marine waters including barnacles; copepods; ostracods; malacostracans (cumaceans, tanaids, mysids, isopods, amphipods, and decapods (shrimp/prawns, lobsters, anomurans, and crabs) . R. L. Lord. SmugMug . February 6, 2012.
Web site: Jassa marmorata. Mario de Kluijver . Sarita Ingalsuo . Macrobenthos of the North Sea – Crustacea . Marine Species Identification Portal. February 6, 2012.
Web site: Jassa marmorata Holmes, 1905 . https://archive.today/20130415055601/http://bcbiodiversity.lifedesks.org/pages/19656 . dead . April 15, 2013 . Jocelyn Nelson . Marine Biodiversity of British Columbia, LifeDesks . February 6, 2012 .
Josepha P. Kurdziel . L. Lacey Knowles . 2002 . The mechanisms of morph determination in the amphipod Jassa: implications for the evolution of alternative male phenotypes . . 269 . 1502 . 1749–1754 . 10.1098/rspb.2002.2089 . 3067827 . 12350261 . 1691093.
J. Lowry . M. Costello . D. Bellan-Santini . 2011 . 102433 . Jassa marmorata Holmes, 1905 . amphipod . February 6, 2012.