I took a closeup picture of a flounder's eye on a night dive at Redondo and noticed all these marks. They look like parasitic isopods or copepods, but they seem like cartoon drawings. Anyone know what these critters are exactly?
Parasites
Parasites
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- Greg Jensen
- Amphibian
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Re: Parasites
They are branchiurans, a type of parasitic crustacean. They are often referred to as "fish lice" but that name is also given to some very similar-looking parasitic copepods. The easy way to tell them apart is that branchiurans have a pair of eyes and copepods don't.
Re: Parasites
Thanks so much!
All underwater photographs of mine are posted at http://www.dereksinger.com
@dereksingerphotography on Instagram
@dereksingerphotography on Instagram