Amphiporus ochraceus (Verrill 1873)

Indian River Lagoon (Fort Pierce, Florida, USA)

Tan/yellow body color. Two rows of eyespots; largest eyes in the first row.

Fouling communities, dock pilings, intertidal sandy substrata

crustaceans

Similar to Amphiporus cruentatus but without the distinctive red blood vessels of A. cruentatus

Gonochoric with external outcross fertilization. One reproductive period of two months per year.

Up to 2.5-4 cm in length

generally for group, they are carnivorous; in some cases only the body juices are ingested but the whole prey may be taken in. feed on protozoans, other microfauna and at times prey their own size

Maine coastline down to Florida

benthic, living under rocks or in burrows in soft substrata, or crawling among algae, hydroids, or in bottom debris

Four specimens up to about 10 mm long, 0.5 mm wide; dorsoventrally flattened, bluntly rounded at both ends. Variable color, yellowish to milky gray, sometimes with light orange pigmentation in cephalic region corresponding to cerebral ganglia. Cerebral organ furrows vertical, precerebral. About 6-10 conspicuous, blackish, precerebral ocelli, arranged in single regular row, along each lateral margin of head. Rhynchopore subterminal; rhynchocoel about three quarters of body length; proboscis long; medially constricted basis same length as slender stylet (length: 29 µm); 2 pouches with 2 accessory stylets each.

Gulf of Mexico and New England (USA) (Norenburg 2009); Santa Marta, Colombia.