Blood sucking sea creatures

Dave-

Sea lice what what I was thinking, but that suggestion was rejected earlier.

Haven't had the pleasure of a bite by one, but have seen them on bottom dwelling fish caught down off the Montery, California coast.

You're right, of course, there are many, sometinmes hundreds, even thousands, of related species of some of these creatures.

Joe.
 
oldgrowth":2t6baf2w said:
DaveS - I believe your friend is right about the animal.
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My friend is my source of information for any plants, wildlife etc. He's one of those very cerebral guys when it comes to these topics. He is a self employed illustrator of medical and biology textbooks. Does immaculate intricate drawings freehand.
 
I did not get out there. Instead I worked on the farm. My tractor had caught on fire last month when I was baling my grass hay and burnt the wiring. Terri did not want to go out so, I worked on rewiring the tractor.

Next time we go out in the Sound I will grab and photograph them.

Ron on Meander":3gjhvcbn said:
Could they possibly be sea lice?
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I originally dismissed this because when I did a search on the internet using Sea Lice, everything I came up with did not match the creatures. It was not until I did a search using “Isopod Crustaceans” that I found the information I posted earlier.
 
Folks:

Jeff C. here, new member and your friendly local (Pacfic NW) marine biologist (I am a research scientist at the UW).

The animals described are almost certainly isopods (you correctly identified them as pill bugs, the common name), from the family Aegidae. These are fish parasites, with specialized hooked legs for hanging on and mouthparts for, you guessed it, blood sucking. At certain life history stages, they swim around trying to find a fish host, and this is the stage that you encountered. They were testing you to see if you were a fish. It is also possible that they were amphipods (beach hoppers) in the family Lysianassidae, which are known to bite divers, and can strip a whale carcass in a few days--the invertebrate equivalent of piranhas. But, these are not so common in shallow water. You can tell isopods from amphipods because the former are somewhat compressed from top to bottom while the latter are compressed from side-to-side.

Jeff
 
Jeff – welcome to the site and thank you for your input. While the photo I posted on the 22nd is a close match, it is not an exact match. The bugs that we encountered were more compressed on the sides than the one appears to be in the photo. I can’t tell how long the legs are in the photo but those that got us had many on both sides. Those swimming around in the water after we got out reminded us of piranhas in a feeding frenzy.
 
This just has to be the most amazing site around. If it's not a sea captain, photographer, lawyer, diver, or rescuer, it's a marine biologist. Thanks so much for your input, Jeff!
 
I think you were attacked by scuds (genus Gammarus). These are sometimes referred to as “Beach Fleas”. You can goggle scud and Gammarus and pull up some pictures to see if that’s what you saw. They are a type of Amphipod and are typically scavengers who will eat anything and probably considered you to be a banquet and maybe this is the return of the X-Files. I would rule out guv'mint theory...way too active and they are not writing reports going to meetings, ...... Could check the GAO site for reports.
my 2 cents worth
 
We have a similar creature on Cape Cod. When I rake for sand eels (bait), while standing in knee-deep water in Pamet River in Truro, Massachusetts, these little biting things (not sand eels, but something else) will swim out of the sand that is disturbed by the rake and bite my legs. Believe it or not, even though this happens under water, if I use insect repellant, I do not get the bites. Next time you have to go in the water, you might try insect repellant on your legs.
 
nntucket":arvkc8zd said:
Believe it or not, even though this happens under water, if I use insect repellant, I do not get the bites. Next time you have to go in the water, you might try insect repellant on your legs.
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Thanks for this information. I will eventually get out there to capture some and will try the insect repellant.
 
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