An international team of marine biologists recently discovered a unique isopod, a form of crustacean, that has been formally identified as a new species of the genus Booralana.
About Isopod:
- Isopods are an order of invertebrates (animals without backbones) that belong to the greater crustacean group of animals, which includes crabs and shrimp.
- Scientists estimate that there are around 10,000 species of isopods (all belonging to the order “Isopoda”).
- They also live in many different types of habitats, from mountains and deserts to the deep sea, and they are distributed worldwide.
- Features:
- They are one of the most morphologically diverse of all the crustacean groups, coming in many different shapes and sizes and ranging from micrometres to a half-metre in length.
- Isopods often do not look alike, but they do have common features. For example, all isopods have two pairs of antennae, compound eyes, and four sets of jaws.
- The body of all isopods consists of seven segments, each with its own pair of walking legs.
- Isopods have a short abdominal section composed of six segments, called “pleons,” and one or more of these segments is fused into a tail section.
- About half of the known species of isopods live in the ocean. Others live in coastal and shelf waters, moving around on the seafloor or living in plants.
- Most are free-living, but a number of marine species are parasitic on other animals.