Exosphaeroma inornata

Dow, 1958

Exosphaeroma inornata is a sphaeromatid isopod originally described by Dow in 1958 from California. The was later synonymized with E. media George and Stromberg 1968 from San Juan Island, Puget Sound, with differences between original descriptions attributed to author errors or phenotypic variations. It is a wide-ranging intertidal species with documented occurrence from San Diego, California north to San Juan Island, Washington, though a significant distribution gap exists between Humboldt Bay and Puget Sound.

Exosphaeroma inornata by (c) Cricket Raspet, some rights reserved (CC BY), uploaded by Cricket Raspet. Used under a CC-BY license.Exosphaeroma inornata by no rights reserved, uploaded by Theo Summer. Used under a CC0 license.

Pronunciation

How to pronounce Exosphaeroma inornata: //ˌɛk.soʊ.sfæˈroʊ.mə ɪnˈɔr.nə.tə//

These audio files are automatically generated. While they are not always 100% accurate, they are a good starting point.

Identification

Exosphaeroma inornata exhibits variable morphological traits that contributed to its historical taxonomic confusion with E. media. Key variable features include: relative position of the rostrum and ; crenulation pattern of the uropod rami; pleotelson shape; coxal plate lines; and body width-to-length ratio. These variations, rather than representing distinct , represent intraspecific phenotypic plasticity or description errors.

Images

Habitat

Marine intertidal zone; commonly found in crevices, sand substrates, and associated with various .

Distribution

Northeastern Pacific coast from San Diego, California north to San Juan Island, Puget Sound, Washington. Notable distribution gap exists between Humboldt Bay, California and Puget Sound, Washington.

Similar Taxa

  • Exosphaeroma mediaPreviously considered a distinct but synonymized with E. inornata; differences attributed to author errors or phenotypic variation rather than species-level distinction

Tags

Sources and further reading