Hyalella azteca
Scud
Wissenschaftliche Klassifizierung
Reich:Animalia
Stamm:Arthropoda
Klasse:Malacostraca
Ordnung:Amphipoda
Familie:Hyalellidae
Gattung:Hyalella
Art:azteca
IUCN-Status:Nicht bewertet
Schnellstatistiken
Schwierigkeit
Einfach
Umgebung
Süßwasser
Temperatur
18°C - 28°C
pH-Wert
6 - 8.5
Wasserhärte
36 - 180 ppm
Lebensdauer
1 years
Herkunft
North America
Erwachsenengröße
1 - 1 cm
Ernährung
Detritusfresser
Tiertyp
Krebstier
TDS
200 ppm
Wasserströmung
Geringe Strömung
Aquarienbau-Informationen
Mindestaquariengröße
5L
Schwimmzone
Mitte, Unten
Sauerstoffverbrauch
Sehr niedrig
Abfallproduktion
Sehr niedrig
Stoffwechselrate
Niedrig
Aktivitätsniveau
Aktiv
Fütterungshäufigkeit
Täglich
Futterarten
Detritus
Algen
Gemüse
Flocken
Pellets
Frostfutter
Lebendfutter
Über diese Art
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Grundbeschreibung
Scuds, also known as Aztec Amphipods or Sideswimmers, are tiny, shrimp-like creatures that are fantastic additions to a freshwater aquarium, especially for beginners. They are incredibly hardy and don't require any special equipment like heaters, as they are comfortable in a wide range of room temperatures. Their main role in a tank is as a natural 'clean-up crew.' They are detritivores, meaning they scavenge the bottom of the tank, eating leftover fish food, decaying plant matter, and algae, helping to keep the aquarium clean. Because they are so small, usually less than a centimeter long, they can be kept in very small tanks or even a simple jar on a windowsill. They are completely peaceful and won't harm any other tank inhabitants, including snails or shrimp. In fact, many fish love to eat them, making Scuds a great source of live, nutritious food that encourages natural hunting behaviors. They reproduce very quickly on their own without any help, so a small starting group can soon turn into a self-sustaining population. Their constant activity, zipping and crawling through plants and substrate, adds a unique and lively element to the bottom levels of an aquarium.
Detaillierte Beschreibung
Hyalella azteca, commonly known as the Scud, is a highly adaptable and prolific amphipod that serves multiple beneficial roles in the freshwater aquarium hobby. Its value extends beyond its simple care requirements. For aquarists, they are the ultimate janitorial staff. Their detritivorous diet means they actively consume mulm, fish waste, biofilm, and uneaten food, directly contributing to nutrient export and a cleaner substrate. Unlike many other invertebrates, their diet can include nuisance algae and decaying plant leaves, further enhancing their utility. To cultivate a thriving population, a dedicated low-flow setup is ideal. A sponge filter is perfect as it provides immense surface area for biofilm growth—a primary food source—without creating a current strong enough to displace them. The tank environment should be rich with hiding places; Java moss, guppy grass, cholla wood, and a substrate of leaf litter not only provide security but also serve as continuous food sources as they decay. While they will eat standard aquarium foods like flakes and pellets, their populations boom when fed blanched vegetables (zucchini, spinach) or high-protein foods, which is useful when culturing them as live food. Their breeding is remarkably straightforward. As crustaceans, they carry their eggs in a brood pouch, releasing fully formed juveniles. This means a colony can be established from just a few individuals and will become self-sustaining. In a community tank, their population is often naturally controlled by fish predation. For this reason, they are an excellent 'on-site' food source for micropredators like Betta fish, gouramis, and various tetras, providing enrichment and a diet closer to what they would find in nature. Due to their minimal bioload and very low oxygen needs, a dense population can be maintained without significant impact on water quality, making them an efficient and low-maintenance organism for both nutrient cycling and live food production.
Wissenschaftliche Beschreibung
Hyalella azteca is a freshwater amphipod crustacean belonging to the family Hyalellidae, widely distributed across North America. Its morphology is characterized by a laterally compressed body (compressiform), which facilitates its distinctive 'sideswimming' locomotion through benthic environments. As a member of the class Malacostraca, it possesses a segmented body, including a cephalothorax, a pereon (thorax), and a pleon (abdomen), with specialized appendages for locomotion, feeding, and respiration. Ecologically, H. azteca is a foundational species. It functions as a primary decomposer and detritivore, playing a critical role in nutrient cycling by processing organic detritus, consuming biofilm, and grazing on algae and macrophytes. This positions it as a key link between primary production/decomposition and higher trophic levels, serving as a vital food source for a vast array of aquatic insects, macroinvertebrates, and fish. Its physiological hardiness is notable; the species exhibits a remarkable tolerance to a broad spectrum of pH and water hardness levels, allowing it to colonize diverse freshwater habitats. Its metabolism is relatively low, and it has an exceptionally low oxygen requirement, enabling it to thrive in hypoxic zones such as the sediment-water interface or within dense aquatic vegetation. Reproduction is direct, with females brooding eggs in a ventral marsupium and releasing fully developed, miniature adults. This reproductive strategy, combined with a short lifespan of approximately one year, facilitates rapid population turnover and high productivity. Because of its ecological importance, ease of culture, and known sensitivity to various toxicants (despite its general hardiness), Hyalella azteca has become a standard model organism in ecotoxicology. It is extensively used in laboratory and in-situ bioassays to assess sediment and water quality, and to determine the sublethal or lethal effects of environmental contaminants.