Marine Pill Bug

Haswellia emarginata

A fast swimming small isopod found in coastal rock pools in south-eastern Australia.
Marine Pill Bug (Haswellia emarginata) This small isopod was found zooming around in a rock pool at low tide. It is facing up in about 100mm of water. Estimated at 9mm long. This one is mottled white and grey but others were different colours.. pink, pale green, brown, grey. Intertidal zone with a mixture of rock shelves and sand. Sheltered from but influenced by southern ocean. At 9mm this is one of the larger types around the coast. Most other species are about 1-3mm long order: ISOPODA family: SPHAEROMATIDAE Australia,Geotagged,Haswellia emarginata,Isopod,Marine Pill Bug,Spring

Appearance

Up to 10mm long, cylindrical body with large dark eyes, finely tapered 'antennae' and a broad flattened tail for propulsion. They occur in many colours including white, grey, tan, pink, yellow, green, aqua, black.

Distribution

Coastlines of SE Australia incl. southern NSW, Victoria and Tasmania

Status

Not at risk

Behavior

Hides ledges of shallow rock pools. Moves very fast when alarmed.

Habitat

Coastal rock pools.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

http://collections.museumvictoria.com.au/specimens/593897
http://bie.ala.org.au/species/Haswellia+emarginata#
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassMalacostraca
OrderIsopoda
FamilySphaeromitidae
GenusHaswellia
SpeciesHaswellia emarginata
Photographed in
Australia