Isopoda is an order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called Isopods and include both terrestrial and aquatic species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons, two pairs of antennae, seven pairs of jointed limbs on the thorax, and five pairs of branching appendages on the abdomen that are used in respiration. Females brood their young in a pouch under their thorax.
The Valvifera are marine isopod crustaceans. Valviferans are distinguished, however, by the flat, valve-like uropods which hinge laterally and fold inward beneath the rear part of their bodies, covering the pleopods. Some species are omnivorous, and serve as effective scavengers in the economy of the sea.
Sphaeromatidae is a family of isopods, often encountered on rocky shores and in shelf waters in temperate zones. The family includes almost 100 genera and 619 known marine species. Within these genera, there are groups that share distinctive morphologies; further research may reclassify these genus-groups as separate families.
Echinodillo is a genus of woodlice in the family Armadillidae. It contains two species.
Lirceus is a genus of isopod crustaceans in the family Asellidae that live in southern Canada and the eastern United States as far west as the Great Plains. Of the 15 species in the genus, two are listed as either endangered (EN) or vulnerable (VU) on the IUCN Red List.
Speocirolana is a genus of crustacean in family Cirolanidae. They occur in Mexico from San Luis Potosi northwards and in southern Texas. They are stygobionts. They measure 17–33 mm (0.67–1.30 in) in total length.
Ceratoserolis is a genus of isopods in the family Serolidae from the Southern Ocean around Antarctica and some Sub-Antarctic Islands. They prefer to live on soft bottoms and range of least between 24 and 950 m (80–3,120 ft) in depth. They are superficially similar to the unrelated, extinct trilobites and reach up to about 8 cm (3.1 in) in length. They were once considered to be part of the genus Serolis and for a long time only Ceratoserolis trilobitoides was recognized. The validity of the other species has been disputed, but there are some morphological and genetic differences between them and C. trilobitoides, and there are indications that additional, currently unrecognized species of Ceratoserolis exist.
Nichollsia is a genus of isopod crustaceans from India. It comprises two species:
Iais aquilei is a species of freshwater isopod, in the suborder Asellota. It is distributed throughout the island of Saint Helena.
Iais floridana is a species of isopod in the family Janiridae. It has a commensal relationship with another isopod, the wood-boring Sphaeroma terebrans. Its native range is unknown, but its host is native to the Indo-Pacific region. It is currently known from the Gulf and Eastern coasts of Florida, where it was first found, and described, in the 1990’s.
Iais pubescens is a species of marine isopod in the family Janiridae. It inhabits seashores in a large number of locations in the southern hemisphere and may be found both free-living, and as commensals on larger isopods.
Iais is a genus of isopod crustaceans. Iais species are found in association with larger isopods of the family Sphaeromatidae, usually on the ventral surface of the larger animal, between the pereiopods and on the pleopods. They are native to Australasia and South America, although Iais californica and its host Sphaeroma quoyanum have invaded California, and I. californica was first described from Sausalito, California.
Cancricepon is a genus of isopod crustaceans in the family Bopyridae including species formerly included in the deprecated Merocepon Richardson, 1910.
Chiridotea is a genus of isopod crustaceans in the family Chaetiliidae, containing the following species:
Dynoides elegans is a species of isopod crustacean in the genus Dynoides. It was originally described in 1923 by Pearl Lee Boone as "Cianella elegans" based on specimens from La Jolla and San Pedro, California. It was transferred to the genus Dynoides in 2000, when Boone's genus was sunk into synonymy with Dynoides.
Uromunna sheltoni is a species of isopod first described by Brian Kensley in 1977. U. sheltoni is included in the genus Uromunna and family Munnidae. No subspecies are listed. The species was first collected by Peter Shelton of the University of Cape Town, for whom it is named.
Janiridae is a family of isopods in the suborder Asellota. There are more than 20 genera in Janiridae.
Deto is a genus of woodlice in the family Detonidae. Members of this genus can be found along the coasts in areas of New Zealand, Namibia, South Africa and Australia.
Dynoides viridis is a species of isopod in the family Sphaeromatidae. It was first found on Heron Island, Great Barrier Reef.
Anuropus is a genus of isopods in the suborder Cymothoida. As of 2021, it is the only genus in the family Anuropidae.
