What species of scud is this?

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Vesp

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These are captured in string algae in a small mostly stagnant pond in northern Utah.
The sizes seem to range from very small to almost nearly an inch.
Any idea what species this is?
 

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The little suckers are predatory! I watched some capture and kill a warehouse and two damsel fly larva. Also one is having babies. But I suspect they'll eat them also?

These large scuds would probably kill freshly hatching salamanders and their eggs. Possibly even gills. Seems like a problematic species.
 

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I believe it is Gammarus pulex after doing all the research I can on the subject.
 
Great newt food. Well worth it to culture them.
 
It can´t be Rivulogammarus pulex because that´s a euroasiatic species. Identifying gammarids is difficult and may not be at all possible without magnification.

They will eat pretty much anything if they get the chance and can be cannibalistic, but if there´s space for the juveniles to hide and other foods available, most should survive.

Smaller species like Hyalella azteca have been kept with caudate eggs and larvae without any apparent problem, but larger species like what you have might not be a good idea. I wouldn´t worry too much about them nipping gills, it´s unlikely in healthy animals.
 
Oh that is good. I started to get worried about them hurting the salamanders.
I have started to feed them tomatoes so they stop eating my water louse and their babies.
They devour a cherry tomato within a hours.

They are pretty neat to watch. They are already having babies, breeding, and everything.
I'm pretty excited to get the Axolotls in there though to defend the water louse, and lower the scud population.
 

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