Sand isopod

taxobox
name=Sand isopod
status=LC
regnum=Animalia
phylum=Arthropoda
subphylum=Crustacea
classis=Malacostraca
ordo=Isopoda
subordo = Valvifera
familia=Idoteidae
genus="Chiridotea"
species="C. caeca"
binomial="Chiridotea caeca"
binomial_authority=Say, 1818

The sand isopod is a species of isopod crustacean found in the western Atlantic Ocean, from Nova Scotia to Florida.

Characteristics

Adult sand isopods are horizontally flattened. The thorax is almost round from above and the long, robust legs with large setae. The abdomen is short and pointed. Sand isopods reach 15 mm in length and 7 mm in width. They use the last pair of legs to dig tunnels in sand. When removed from the tunnels (for instance, by wave action), sand isopods swim down to the substrate, where they dig underground again.

Ecology

Little is known about their feeding ecology, though it is thought to be carnivorous.

References

Grzimek's Animal Life Encyclopedia. Volume 2 — Protostomes.