munnid isopod Munna sp.

Munna isopods look like small spiders with long legs that can be 1.5 times longer than the body [1].

Antarctic isopods have a variety of deepwater and continental shelf ecological niches including parasites of fish and other isopods and free-living predators of amphipods, polychaetes, and other invertebrates [2]. Antarctic isopods have at least 346 species and 302 of those are endemic to Antarctica (native or peculiar to Antarctica) [2]. Some Antarctic isopods occur in both Antarctica and South Africa, Australia, or South America [2]. Only one Antarctic isopod is bipolar (found in the Arctic as well as Antarctic) [2].

1: Bulletin du Museum National d'Histoire Naturelle. Section A. Zoologie Biologie et Ecologie Animales 16(1):111-201, 1994; 2: Berichte zur Polarforschung 98: 201-240, 1991

Text ©Peter Brueggeman. Photograph ©Canadian Museum of Nature (Kathleen Conlan). Photograph may not be used in any form without the express written permission of Canadian Museum of Nature (Kathleen Conlan).