Western sea slater
The western sea slater is a big cousin of the woodlouse that lives on rocky seashores. It has a sleek, flat body and large eyes. If you get close, it zooms away and hides in a crack in the rocks.
How fast is it?
Fun facts
During the day it hides in rocky cracks above the line where the high tide reaches.
It breathes with gills that must stay damp, but it cannot stay under water for long, or it will drown.
It has two long prongs at its tail end, much longer than those of its close cousin.
It comes out at night or when the weather is cool.
Most asked questions about Western sea slater
?Is the western sea slater dangerous?
No. It is harmless and runs away very fast when disturbed.
?Can a sea slater swim?
Not really. It needs damp gills to breathe, but it drowns if it stays under water too long.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Ligia occidentalis
- Group
- Woodlice
- Family
- Ligiidae
- Classification
- Malacostraca > Isopoda > Ligiidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Ligia occidentalis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Justin Johnsen. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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