Sow bug

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See how they move!

SCIENTIFIC NAME: Isopoda

Number Of Species/Distribution

There are about 10,000 marine, freshwater, and terrestrial species worldwide.

Diet/Feeding

Different species of sow bugs get their nutrients in different ways

  • Most species of sow bugs are scavengers, feeding on dead and injured organisms.

  • They can also be plant feeders and detritivores- which feed on decaying organic matter.

  • Some species are parasites, living on fish or other crustaceans by feeding on their tissue fluids.

Habitat

Sow bugs can be found in all types of aquatic habitats

  • Freshwater isopods live mainly along the bottoms of ponds, lakes, streams, and springs, but have also been recorded at depths of as much as 55 m.

  • Freshwater isopods are usually closely associated with the substrate, or aquatic plants,which provide shelter

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SOW BUGS: INTERESTING FACTS

  • Sow bugs are the poorest swimmers of all freshwater crustaceans. They can barely swim at all and movement is usually restricted to a slow crawl.

  • Sow bugs make up the second most diverse group of crustaceans.

Life Cycle

Sow bugs reproduce sexually (between a male and a female) and breeding occurs throughout the year.

  • During mating, the males grasp the females using specialized appendages (called pleopods), and they may remain attached for months.

  • Sperm are transferred from the male to the female, and after 1 to 10 months, fertilization occur and the eggs pass into a brood pouch (where the eggs develop, also known as a marsupium).

  • After incubation, the newly hatched young remain in the pouch for up to a month.

  • The newly hatched young look like miniature versions of adults, and progress through at least 15 stages (known as instars) before reaching maturity.

  • Most freshwater sow bugs have a lifespan of about one year.

Role in Food Chain

Sow bugs are an important link in the food chain

  • They help recycle dead and decaying material from the stream bed back into living tissue.

  • They are an important food source for many stream fishes.

Sources

  • Brusca, R. C, and Brusca, G. J., 2003. Invertebrates, 2nd ed. Sinauer Associates, Inc., Publishers, Massachusetts. Page 534, 537.

  • Canada's Aquatic Environments (2002). Isopoda. Available here.