Ligia is a genus of isopods, commonly known as rock lice or sea slaters. Most Ligia species live in tidal zone cliffs and rocky beaches, but there are several fully terrestrial species which occur in high-humidity environments.

Ligia
Ligia oceanica
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Isopoda
Suborder: Oniscidea
Family: Ligiidae
Genus: Ligia
Fabricius, 1798
Type species
Ligia oceanica

Ecology

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Coastal Ligia species exhibit a mixture of terrestrial and marine characteristics, drying out easily, needing moist air and proximity to water to retain water.[1] While they have gills and can exchange gas under water, they only do so when escaping terrestrial predators or being dislodged by wave action. They do not move swiftly in the water and are open to marine predation. They are well adapted to rocky surfaces and avoid sand, which opens them to terrestrial predation and desiccation.[2]

Taxonomy

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It has been suggested that Ligia is more closely related to marine isopods than it is to true woodlice.[3][4]

Species

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Species separation is at times difficult because of sexual dimorphism. For example, males usually have longer and wider antennae than females. The males also tend to be larger but narrower, with the difference sometimes attributed to the female's brood pouch.[5] Complicating matters is the possible existence of cryptic species in the genus.[6]

This is a list of all Ligia species contained in A Bibliography of Terrestrial Isopods:[7][8]

References

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  1. ^ Xu, Lele; Li, Yongqin; Liu, Yao; Mi, Haifeng; Jiang, Xiang; Sun, Yulin; Zhao, Haiyong; Chen, Daohai; Wang, Liyun (2021-03-30). "A comprehensive evaluation of the potential of semiterrestrial isopods, Ligia exotica, as a new animal food". Scientific Reports. 11 (1): 7213. Bibcode:2021NatSR..11.7213X. doi:10.1038/s41598-021-86561-z. ISSN 2045-2322. PMC 8009950. PMID 33785800.
  2. ^ Luis A. Hurtado, Mariana Mateos & Carlos A. Santamaria (2010). "Phylogeography of supralittoral rocky intertidal Ligia isopods in the Pacific region from central California to central Mexico". PLoS ONE. 5 (7): e11633. Bibcode:2010PLoSO...511633H. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0011633. PMC 2908127. PMID 20657776.
  3. ^ Dimitriou, Andreas C.; Taiti, Stefano; Sfenthourakis, Spyros (6 December 2019). "Genetic evidence against monophyly of Oniscidea implies a need to revise scenarios for the origin of terrestrial isopods". Scientific Reports. 9 (1). Nature: 18508. Bibcode:2019NatSR...918508D. doi:10.1038/s41598-019-55071-4. PMC 6898597. PMID 31811226.
  4. ^ Lins, Luana S. F.; Ho, Simon Y. W.; Lo, Nathan (15 October 2017). "An evolutionary timescale for terrestrial isopods and a lack of molecular support for the monophyly of Oniscidea (Crustacea: Isopoda)". Organisms Diversity & Evolution. 17 (4). Springer: 813–820. doi:10.1007/s13127-017-0346-2. S2CID 6580830.
  5. ^ Harold Gordon Jackson (1922). "A revision of the isopod genus Ligia (Fabricius)". Proceedings of the Zoological Society of London. 1922: 483–1276.
  6. ^ Santamaria, Carlos A.; Bluemel, Joanna K.; Bunbury, Nancy; Curran, Melinda (2017-10-06). "Cryptic biodiversity and phylogeographic patterns of Seychellois Ligia isopods". PeerJ. 5: e3894. doi:10.7717/peerj.3894. PMC 5633021. PMID 29018626.
  7. ^ H. Schmalfuss & K. Wolf-Schwenninger (2004). "A bibliography of terrestrial isopods (Crustacea, Isopoda, Oniscidea)" (PDF). Stuttgarter Beiträge zur Naturkunde. 639: 1–120.
  8. ^ a b c Khalaji-Pirbalouty, Valiallah; Wägele, Johann-Wolfgang (2010). "Two new species of Ligia Fabricius, 1798 (Crustacea: Isopoda: Ligiidae) from coasts of the Persian and Aden gulfs". Organisms Diversity & Evolution. 10 (2): 135–145. doi:10.1007/s13127-010-0003-5. S2CID 30197033.
  9. ^ a b c d e f g h Santamaria, Carlos A. (2019-08-15). "Molecular taxonomy of endemic coastal Ligia isopods from the Hawaiian Islands: re-description of L. hawaiensis and description of seven novel cryptic species". PeerJ. 7: e7531. doi:10.7717/peerj.7531. PMC 6698373. PMID 31435494.
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  •   Data related to Ligia at Wikispecies