''Ligia natalensis'' is an
isopod
Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...
in the
family
Family (from ) is a Social group, group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or Affinity (law), affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictabili ...
Ligiidae
Ligiidae is a family of woodlice, the only family in the infraorder Diplocheta. Its members are common on rocky shores, in similar habitats to those inhabited by species of the bristletail '' Petrobius'' and the crab '' Cyclograpsus''. The famil ...
.
The
type specimen
In biology, a type is a particular wikt:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally associated. In other words, a type is an example that serves to ancho ...
for this species is held in the
KwaZulu-Natal Museum in
Pietermaritzburg
Pietermaritzburg (; ) is the capital and second-largest city in the province of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa after Durban. It was named in 1838 and is currently governed by the Msunduzi Local Municipality. The town was named in Zulu after King ...
, South Africa.
Description
''L. natalensis'' is silver-grey with darker grey markings. Its moderately convex body is twice as long as it is wide, , with some bumps on the outer "shell"...neither as smooth as ''
L. glabrata'' nor as granulated as ''
L. diletada''.
Its eyes are large and convex, and its long, thin antennae have five sections. The first three sections are short, and the last two are long. In females, the antennae are as long as the body, while the male's antennae are longer. The species' elongated uropods are slightly curved inward.
Distribution
''L. natalensis'' has been found along the waterline of
KwaZulu-Natal
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN) is a Provinces of South Africa, province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the government merged the Zulu people, Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu language, Zulu) and ...
, along the South Coast in South Africa.
References
External links
*
Woodlice
Crustaceans described in 1920
{{Isopod-stub