Constellation Marine Reserve, West Seattle, WA. Southern end of the park.
C. Piotrowski, C. Dixon, S. Ellsworth, N. West, M.E. Hannibal
Living within M. californianus bed. I. wosnesenskii?
A particularly colorful Baltic Isopod, most at least here, are a drab green. The shape of the telson distinguishes it from other similar Idotea isopods.
Found this wonderful isopod, probably some kind of Idotea, and most of my pics seem to have it's head in shadow, lending it a Hadean demeanor that is completely unwarranted, but pretty cool all the same. Note that weird yellow thing under one of its plates (sclerites? what do you call them for crustaceans?): some kind of parasite?
Walking roughly through this key, my guess is that this is Idotea schmitti, mostly based on the blunt process on the pleotelson. Anyone have any thoughts? This was about 5 or 6 cm long, found in the rocky intertidal near Pescadero, CA, between San Francisco and Santa Cruz.
I think this was Idotea metallica. According to the Peterson guide to the Atlantic seashore, I. metallica is the only Eastern isopod with a flat telson like this. Can anyone confirm?
