Isopoda

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Isopods
Eophreatoicus, a freshwater isopod from Australia
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Crustacea Class: Malacostraca Order: Isopoda Latreille, 1817
Suborders
Anthuridea Asellota Calabozoida Epicaridea Flabellifera Microcerberidea Oniscidea Phreatoicidea Valvifera

Isopods are one of the most diverse orders of crustaceans, with many species living in all environments, and are common in shallow marine waters. Unlike most crustaceans, isopods are successful on land (suborder Oniscidea, woodlice, which also includes sea slaters), although their greatest diversity remains in the deep sea (suborder Asellota). There are also several parasitic species within the genus Cymothoa, commonly known as "tongue-biters" for their habit of nibbling off fishes' tongues and attaching themselves to the floor of the host's mouth. The isopods are an ancient group with fossils known from the Carboniferous (suborder Phreatoicidea, family Paleophreatoicidae) that only differ slightly from modern southern hemisphere freshwater phreatoicideans.

[edit] See also

• Giant isopod
• Woodlouse

[edit] External links

• Smithsonian Institution World List of Marine, Freshwater and Terrestrial Isopod Crustaceans
• Buz Wilson's Isopod Sites Page
• suborder Phreatoicidea
• suborder Asellota
• suborder Oniscidea
• Prof. Chuck Holliday's Research Page, Prof. Chuck Holliday, Dept. of Biology, Lafayette College. Contains links to articles on osmoregulation in isopods and other crustaceans.
• Australian Isopoda