Appearance: Sandhoppers are reddish to greenish brown. They have round, black eyes.
Depth: Between the strandline at the top of the beach and the low tide level.
Feeding: The sandhopper is a secondary consumer. It is a scavenger, feeding on small particles of food that fall from above as other larger animals feed.
Environment: Sandhoppers can be very common on shingle or sand beaches and hidden under stones and algae. Rotting algae at the top of the beach can have large numbers hidden beneath.
Other facts: The sandhopper is so-called after the way it moves back into cover when uncovered. However, it does not hop, it pushes its body by flicking its tail from under its body. Once the tide is in, the animal swims with its other appendages. Sandhoppers can flick themselves many times their own length.
Classification: Sandhoppers are invertebrates in the arthropod phylum.