#4470 · 🦀 crabs & other crustaceans
European Sand Hopper
🇳🇱 Gewone strandvlo ·Talitrus saltator
9 photos from iNaturalist (Creative Commons) · credits & licences
what is it?
Talitrus saltator , a species of sand hopper, is a common amphipod crustacean of sandy coasts around Europe. The animal's typical "hopping" movement gives the animal its common name, and is produced by a flexion of the abdomen. In order to do this, it must stand on its legs (amphipods usually rest on their sides) and suddenly extend its abdomen out from under its body. It can thus leap several inches into the air, although without any...
base stats
Bars compare against all animals on log scales: up to 300,000 Dutch and 600,000 worldwide sightings (the most-seen species), 150 t (blue whale), 30 m and 400 years (Greenland shark).
fun facts
- Spotted 28 times in the Netherlands on iNaturalist: the #35 most seen of the crabs & other crustaceans in NL.
- 1,710 observations worldwide on iNaturalist.
- Scientifically named by George Montagu in 1808 (218 years ago).
fact sheet
- English
- European Sand Hopper
- Nederlands
- Gewone strandvlo
- scientific name
- Talitrus saltator
- class
- Malacostraca
- order
- Amphipoda
- family
- Talitridae
- sightings in NL
- 28
- sightings in Europe
- 1,260
- sightings worldwide
- 1,710
- GBIF records in NL
- 320
- weight
- —
- length
- —
- lifespan
- —
- named
- 1808 by George Montagu
relatives· Talitridae
Sources: iNaturalist taxon 210201, Wikidata Q1471273, GBIF 2218546, Wikipedia (EN), Wikipedia (NL). Intro text from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0).Updated 2026-10-24.