Which species is this? B.giganteus? Or one of the giants?

New preprint! We unexpectedly discovered that some Caenorhabditis species delete parts of their somatic genome early in development, which fragments their chromosomes and eliminates key germline genes. Multiple lines of evidence suggest this bizarre process was present in the ancestors of C. elegans

Really, really happy that our work on microsporidian genomes is now out in @plosbiology.org! A huge thank you to my coauthors, my supervisors @mblaxter.bsky.social & @marakat.bsky.social, the editors @roliroberts.bsky.social & Joseph Heitman, and the reviewers ❤️ plos.io/48HsAQJ

A vectorial digital drawing of a Bathynomus giganteus, or Giant Isopod, set against a pale blue background. The isopod is viewed from directly above, showing its highly segmented, oval body. Its exoskeleton is colored in shades of light purple-gray and pale pink/tan, with a dark outline emphasizing the segmentation. The animal's head and small antennae are visible at the top, and its tail is visible at the bottom. The text "invertobter2025 - Day 16" is in the bottom right corner.

I praise animals hiding legs beneath their body, especially if those legs are of the arthropod-type 🙏

Also... I am in charge here, & I decide how you pose for me.

Day16 of #invertober2025 spotlights the giant isopod 🫶 dont know why, but I imagine it to be very much stompy down there 🥹 #MarineLife

Oh I’ll defo have a look, very cool. I guess this is why it’s flagged as contaminated on Genbank :)

Yay! Amazing work guys!!!

Yay mammoth! And nice work Camilo!

And if anyone is kicking themselves for missing it, here is the recording for my #ProcB seminar yesterday on #isopod #phylogenomics.

cassyni.com/events/VVbok...

I'll be talking about my #ProcB isopod phylogenomics paper in the Royal Society Publishing Ecology & Evolution Online Seminar Series, live (with Q&A) next Weds 26th Feb 2pm (UK).
Please reshare to reach all the lovers of #isopods (& #phylogenomics), who might be interested in their #evolution!
🧪

Darwin Tree of Life Impact Assessment This form is used to share information within DToL about case studies, ongoing research, and funding awards that demonstrate the impact the Darwin Tree of Life consortium project has had on Global and...

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I'll be talking about my #ProcB isopod phylogenomics paper in the Royal Society Publishing Ecology & Evolution Online Seminar Series, live (with Q&A) next Weds 26th Feb 2pm (UK).
Please reshare to reach all the lovers of #isopods (& #phylogenomics), who might be interested in their #evolution!
🧪

Adaptation to life on land evolved multiple times in arthropods, but what about isopods? Join us on Weds 26 Feb at 2pm (UK) to hear #ProcB author @jessthorpemas.bsky.social discuss her work on this key ecological transition. Find out more & sign up: cassyni.com/events/VVbok...

Definitely false hope! :) I also now now note it’s a triploid, which would be unexpected…

Not Armadillidium vulgare?!

I recently shared my journey into #isopod #science 🧪 with The Marine Biologist magazine! 🦐 From Jurassic Park sparking my curiosity in DNA, to studying isopod genomics with #sanger #darwintreeoflife - read it here: mymba.mba.ac.uk/resource/unf...
Thanks @thembauk.bsky.social for the opportunity!

Ant Woodlouse (Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii) Ant Woodlouse from Long Island, New York, NY, US on April 29, 2024 at 03:08 PM by Priyantha Wijesinghe. Marine Park, Brooklyn. Path from Nature Center trail to Lenape Playground. Under log. With host...

For #Crustmas one of my favorite woodlouse (Crustacea: Isopoda: Oniscidea) species: Platyarthrus hoffmannseggii . 29 April 2024, Marine Park area, Brooklyn, NYC. On @inaturalist.bsky.social
www.inaturalist.org/observations...

I believe this species is part of the cirolanidae family that likely feeds on the carcasses of dead animals.

The oldest isopod fossils date back around 300 million years, so they’ve been around a long time!

🧪 #MarineLife #Inverts

(in September)
Shiraki & Kakui ab digenean parasitic in anthuroid isopod published online

ウミナナフシ を利用する吸虫に関する成果がオンライン公開されました．

article link: doi.org/10.1016/j.pa...

Close-up photograph of Ancinus depressus, a white, rectangular-shaped, flattened isopod in the palm of my hand. It's eyes are tiny, and on either side of it's head at the front of it's body. It's telson is triangular and large, taking up a considerable portion of the animal's length (about a quarter). It's shell is pale, white and subtly mottled greyish tones.

Close-up photograph of Ancinus depressus, a white, rectangular-shaped, flattened isopod in the palm of my hand. It is now attempting to roll into a ball, but due to it's shape, it can only manage a wide, oblong form. It's telson, being so large, juts out prominently from underneath it's head.

Ancinus depressus, the flat pillbug, for day 16 of #crustmas!

This is a wonderfully rectangular, flat isopod that likes the sandy, shelly substrates of nearshore marine habitats, particularly beaches.

When threatened, it rolls into a ball. It's flat, broad shape means it can only try it's best.

So cool!!

An isopod sitting on wood slightly in profile

It’s the 19th day of #crustmas and earlier this month I went out in the cold 40° weather to find this wild #isopod for this celebration. (Shot near Cincinnati 12-4-24) #photography #invert #macrophotography #crustacean

A very long and thin isopod crustacean on a kelp stem. The isopod has the look of a centipede. It is on top of and parallel to the stem and is facing toward the left. The view is side-on. The isopod is gripping the stem with six of its apparently seven pairs of legs. It has long antennae that are pointing forward and appear to be a little over half the length of the body. The overall color of the isopod is tan, but it has a dark line across the body where each of its seven body segments meet. It also has five or six fainter lines that run from head to tail evenly spread across the upper body. Its legs are transparent. A small eye is visible. The kelp stem is dark brown, and there is a second stem above this one and the isopod. The background is the tangled root-like holdfast of the kelp, and it is a much lighter yellowish brown.

For #Crustmas - a long isopod on the stipe of a kelp that was washed up on the beach and taken into the lab. I believe it is the kelp isopod Pentidotea.

Tree of Life Programme on LinkedIn: We are celebrating 2,000 published genomes made public. 🎀 We're asking:… We are celebrating 2,000 published genomes made public. 🎀 We're asking: Have you used Wellcome Sanger Institute Tree of Life reference genomes in your…

Tree of Life at Sanger released 2,000 genomes! All beautiful, (close to) chromosomally complete references free to be used by anyone.
www.linkedin.com/posts/sanger...

Phylogenomics supports a single origin of terrestriality in isopods | Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences Terrestriality, the adaptation to life on land, is one of the key evolutionary transitions, occurring numerous times across the tree of life. Within Arthropoda, there have been several independent tra...

Excited to share that my isopod evolution paper is now out:

Phylogenomics supports a single origin of terrestriality in in isopods

Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences doi.org/10.1098/rspb...

Ahh I certainly can! (But won’t spoil it for others)

(since everyone else seems to be doing it...)

Hey Rob, one way I’ve used is to build contigs, then create a blast database of your contigs and query with closely related busco sequences. Better than mapping if you have more distantly related species.

New preprint! Phylogenomics supports a single origin of terrestriality in isopods.

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...