Identification, Images, & Information
For Insects, Spiders & Their Kin
For the United States & Canada
Clickable Guide
Moths Butterflies Flies Caterpillars Flies Dragonflies Flies Mantids Cockroaches Bees and Wasps Walkingsticks Earwigs Ants Termites Hoppers and Kin Hoppers and Kin Beetles True Bugs Fleas Grasshoppers and Kin Ticks Spiders Scorpions Centipedes Millipedes


TaxonomyBrowseInfoImagesLinksBooksData
Photo#187710
Burrowing crustacean

Burrowing crustacean
Great Island, Cape Cod National Seashore County, Massachusetts, USA
June 3, 2008
Size: ~7 mm
I know this is destined for 'frass', but I'd be grateful if anyone could help me figure out what this is. Found many of them burrowing just below the surface of the beach.

Images of this individual: tag all
Burrowing crustacean Burrowing crustacean Burrowing crustacean

We found them too!
We found these critters at Ocean Beach in Connecticut. I asked at Mystic Aquarium for identification: Mole Crab. They look like a shrimp without the long tail or fan. Very cool to watch them dig through the sand to bury themselves.

Isopoda.
Dorso-ventrally compressed body; large, triangular plate-like pleotelson (last abdominal segment) and posterior ventral gills (both are most visible in ventral image), and body divided into three zones - cephalothorax, pereon, and pleotelson - reminds me of a marine isopod. Quite a diverse group.

Comment viewing options
Select your preferred way to display the comments and click 'Save settings' to activate your changes.