ISOPODS...THE MOST CREATURES IN THE WORLD!
OFFICIAL ISOPOD PAGE IN THE EVER
Hi and welcome to my isopod page which was created because, fun fact if you didn't know this yet, I LOVE ISOPODS!! I can't really pinpoint the exact moment in time when I started really liking isopods, but I've always found them cool. As a kid I would dig through the dirt under tree roots or in bushes and search for the little rolly pollys that I liked so much. Now that I'm older it's not much different, I still love looking for and pointing out isopods whenever I find them.
BUT...WHAT IS AN ISOPOD?
Isopods are crustaceans under the order Isopoda, which is where they
get their "isopod" name. The name "isopod" means "same foot", which is due to all their legs being of equal size, shape, and form. They are found pretty much worldwide, in habitats ranging
from forests, deserts, rivers, caves, the deep ocean -- pretty much any place you can think of.
You probably know about terrestrial isopods, or the names they're commonly refferred to as: roly poly, pill bug, sowbug, slater,
woodlouse. These terrestrial isopods, belonging to the suborder Oniscidea, are excellent scavengers and decomposers since they eat rotting and dead material such as dead leaves, rotting wood, and feces, which recycles nutrients back into the soil. Some species
of isopods are able to roll up into a ball as a defense against external dangers as well as to conserve moisture (these are the ones referred to as pill bugs or roly polys), while other species of isopods cannot due to their flattened
bodies and two little appendages that stick out from the end of their bodies that prevents them from rolling up into a ball (these are the ones referred to as sowbugs).
Terrestrial isopods have plenty of aquatic and semi-aquatic cousins, with the most infamous being Bathynomus giganteus, aka the giant isopod. These deep sea isopods are also scavengers and feed on dead matter that floats all the way down to the ocean floor.
They are also known to feed on things such as fish, squid, shrimp, and sponges! Since food is scarce at the bottom of the ocean floor, giant isopods take what they can get and can go long periods of time without eating. They are very resilient and resourceful creatures.
WHY DO YOU LIKE ISOPODS?
I just think they're epic and definitely underrated little creatures that deserve the entire world. Not much else to say other than I hope that others can appreciate and love them as much as I do!!! There are so many species of isopods with very diverse features and appearances and you could honestly spend hours looking through all the cool genera of isopods in the world. There is definitely an isopod out there for everyone :)