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| sea slaters text index | photo index |
| Phylum Arthropoda > Subphylum Crustacea > Class Malacostraca > Order Isopoda |
| Beach
isopods Order Isopoda updated Jan 11 Where seen? These tiny segmented animals are sometimes seen our shores, often swarming in numbers at low tide over rotting fruit or dead matter. What are isopods? They are crustaceans like crabs and prawns. There are about 4,000 described species of isopods that live in the sea. Some are found in freshwater, and some are terrestrial (these are usually called wood lice or pill bugs). Most marine isopods are tiny (5-15mm long). But one deep sea isopod Bathynomus giganteus can grow to 40cm long! The most commonly seen isopod on the shore are the sea slaters (Ligia sp.) or sometimes called sea cockroaches although they are not insects and look nothing like cockroaches (if you ask me). Features: 1cm or less. Their segmented body is flattened downwards (instead of sideways for amphipods such as beach fleas) with legs that are more or less similar. Their name 'isopod' means 'equal foot'. Their eyes are NOT on stalks. Some can give a nasty bite. What do they eat? Beach isopods are scavengers, nibbling on whatever recently died on the rocky shore. At low tide, they swarm over the beach looking for the recent dead. Some isopods found in the mangroves nibble holes in dead wood and can cause much damage to wooden man-made structures. |
 Some unidentified beach isopods warming over rotting fruit. East Coast, Aug 09  |
 Sisters Island, Jan 11 |
 Sisters Island, Jan 10 |
 Sisters Island, Jan 11 |
 Sentosa, Nov 10 |
 Sentosa, Nov 10 |
 Cyrene Reef, Jul 11 |
Links
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Brooks/Cole of Thomson Learning Inc., 7th Edition. pp. 963.|
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