Some facts about sand fleas
Warm and humid
climatic conditions are the pre-requisites
for the survival of fleas and sand fleas are
no exception to this fact. Known to be the
most dangerous of all other species of fleas,
sand fleas are commonly found in the Northern
area of the Pacific Ocean. ‘Beach hopper’,
‘no-see-um’, ‘hop-along’,
‘no-see-um’ and ‘sand hopper’
are some of the most common names that are
referred for sand fleas.
At times these sand fleas can be the cause
of great annoyance to the visitors of the
beach as they breed in sand and often bite
in groups near the ankle area of the visitors.
The hosts that are in the distance of 10 inches
become the main target of attack. Itching
and irritation are some of the common after
effects that can be noticed after flea bites
from this particular species of fleas. Pain,
lesion and welts are some other problems developed
by the bites of sand fleas that may take few
hours to few weeks to cure properly. So, the
best way is to prevent going on the beach
side during summers. However, regular use
of insect repellant daily is a good method
to stay protected and safe from sand fleas.
Visiting the beachside in winters is better
because, unable to bear the cold climate,
these sand fleas generally moves towards warm
water in the ocean.
Flying fish, whale, swordfish, small fishes,
sunfish and starfish are the main targets
of attack for sand fleas. These parasitic
crustaceans stick to scale and flesh of these
water hosts and feed over them to finally
eat them completely. Most of the times, the
attack of these sand fleas remains restricted
to a particular area of the host’s body,
because of which there is no major damage
that is noticed on the remaining part of the
body.
The size for these sand fleas is noticed to
be as small as a little grain to around four
times larger than it. These fleas start from
the slime outer layer of the body of the host
and slowly penetrate inside. In the process,
they destroy the topmost layer of the skin,
skin membrane near the anus, eye area and
dorsal fins. Once they enter the skin of the
host, it is considered to be almost dead as
these sand fleas such their blood and feed
upon the skin and sweat glands of the host.
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