PORT PHILLIP BAY


Sea Centipede 

Crabyzos longicaudatus Bate, 1863

View scientific description and taxonomy

Scientific Details

Body narrow (about 10 times as long as wide), smooth, head as wide as and fused to pereonite 1, parallel-sided. Pleon without articulating pleonites, no pleonites indicated by sutures pleotelsonic formula 0 + 0); apically acute. Antenna 2 multiarticulate. Upper lip and mandibles asymmetrical. Mandible with weakly ridged molar process. Maxilla 1 with reduced inner lobe, outer lobe with short stout setae. Maxilla 2 a single lobe. Maxillipedal endite narrow, with reduced apical setation; palp digitiform, articles free, 5 elongate. Coxae 2-7 without dorsal coxal plates, lateral sutures not visible dorsally. Pereopods without spiniforrn setae on palms of distal articles. Penes fused at base, attached to posterior margin of pleonite 1. Oostegites lamellar on pereopods 1-5.

Source: Poore, G.C.B. & Lew Ton, H.M. (1993) Idoteidae of Australia and New Zealand (Crustacea: Isopoda: Valvifera). Invertebrate Taxonomy, 7, 197-278.

Taxonomy

Phylum:
Arthropoda
Subphylum:
Crustacea
Class:
Malacostraca
Subclass:
Eumalacostraca
Superorder:
Peracarida
Order:
Isopoda
Suborder:
Valvifera
Family:
Idoteidae
Genus:
Crabyzos
Species:
longicaudatus

General Description

Body very slender, about 10 times as long as wide, dorsoventrally flattened, dorsal surface smooth. Head as long as wide, rostrum poorly defined, not projecting as far as anterolateral lobes. First body segment (pereonite 1) fused to head; mouthparts asymmetrical; pleon without sutures visible dorsally, apex sharply tapering. Pleotelson elongate and acute. Up to 5 cm long.

Biology

Crabyzos longicaudatus is commonly encountered in samples from seagrass beds and is as brilliant green as the plants with which it lives. The species belongs to one of the few families of herbivorous isopods.

Habitat

Seagrass beds, to depth of 20 m.

Reefs

Coastal shores

Seagrass meadows

Distribution guide

Southern Australia.

Species Group

Microcrustaceans › Isopods

Depth

Shore (0-1 m)
Shallow (1-30 m)
Deep ( > 30 m)

Water Column

On or near sea floor

Max Size

5 cm

Diet

Herbivore

Commercial Species

No

Global Dispersal

Native to Australia

Species Code

MoV 956

Conservation Status

  • DSE Advisory List : Not listed
  • EPBC Act 1999 : Not listed
  • IUCN Red List : Not listed

Author

article author Taylor, J.

Dr. Jo Taylor is the Sciences Collections Online Coordinator at Museum Victoria.

Author

article author Poore, G.C.B.

Dr. Gary Poore is Principal Curator Emeritus at Museum Victoria.

citation

Cite this page as:
Taylor, J. & Poore, G.C.B., 2011, Sea Centipede, Crabyzos longicaudatus, in Taxonomic Toolkit for marine life of Port Phillip Bay, Museum Victoria, accessed 30 Apr 2025, http://136.154.202.208:8098/species/5316

Text: creative commons cc by licence