Pleurocrypta longibranchiata (Bate & Westwood, 1867)

Synonyms

Phryxus longibranchiatus

Status:

Native

ID Difficulty

Identification

As with other species in this genus, the larger female (up to 8.0 mm) is asymetrical and pyriform in shape with prominent coxal plates and biramous pleopods. In the smaller male (2.0 mm), the pleon somites are fused. For further details, see Sars (1899, pp. 206-7 and Plate 86).

Distribution and Habitat

This species has been recorded in Shetland, the Isle of Man, and south Devon. It is the regular parasite (found in the branchial cavity) of the Squat Lobster Galathea squamifera, and may be detectable externally by a bulge in the carapace of the cephalothorax of the host.

References

Naylor, E. & A. Brandt. 2015. Intertidal Marine Isopods. Synopses of the British Fauna (New Series), No. 3. Field Studies Council, for The Linnean Society of London.

Sars, G. O. 1899. An Account of the Crustacea of Norway, Vol. II Isopoda. Bergen: Bergen Museum.

BRC code

628

idBmigTaxa