Photo 1791, (c) Ken-ichi Ueda, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Ken-ichi Ueda

Attribution © Ken-ichi Ueda
some rights reserved
Uploaded by kueda kueda
Source Flickr
Original http://www.flickr.com/photos/18024068@N00/3264248519
Associated observations

Photos / Sounds

What

Sponge Isopod (Paracerceis sculpta)

Observer

kueda

Date

February 7, 2009 01:07 PM PST

Description

Found on a piece of kelp growing on a boat. Honestly, my first through was some kind of larval spiny or slipper lobster, but then I realized I had the animal backwards. I'm fairly confident it's in Sphaeromatidae, and it certainly looks a lot like the pics of male Paracereis, but I mean, Paracereis sculpta has 3 male morphs! What the hell, Nature!

The animal was about 2 cm long, observed in Pillar Point Harbor, near El Granada, CA.

Sizes
Copyright

Ken-ichi Ueda