Whale Lice Infestation on Gray Whale Calf | Cyamus scammoni | Baja, Mexico

Infestation of whale lice (Cyamus scammoni) in the blowholes of a gray whale calf (Eschrichtius robustus). Whale lice are amphipods that scavenge for food on the whale's body, including the whale's skin and flesh. There is sexual dimorphism among adult Cyamus scammoni, with males being larger than females. Unlike the young of most other marine crustaceans, which have a planktonic larval stage, juvenile whale lice mature in a pouch-like structure called the marsupium, which is located on the underside of females. Photographed in Baja California, Mexico.

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Filename: whale-lice-cyamus-scammoni-infestation-gray-whale-calf-baja-mexico-201302-0720.tif
Copyright: Copyright Tony Wu. All rights reserved. No duplication in any form without prior written consent.
Image Size: 5128x3419 / 50.3MB; https://www.photoshelter.com/support/license#rm; https://www.tony-wu.com/contact-tony-wu; Amphipoda Animalia Arthropoda Baja Peninsula Calf Cetartiodactyla Cetacea Chordata CITES Appendix 1 Crustacea Crustacean Cyamidae Cyamus scammoni Eschrichtiidae Eschrichtius robustus Filter Feeder Gray Whale Grey Whale Juvenile Least Concern: IUCN Red List Magdalena Bay Malacostraca Mammalia Marine Mammal Mexico Mysticete Mysticeti Pacific Whale Whale Lice
Contained in galleries: Gray Whales, Crustaceans

Infestation of whale lice (Cyamus scammoni) in the blowholes of a gray whale calf (Eschrichtius robustus). Whale lice are amphipods that scavenge for food on the whale's body, including the whale's skin and flesh. There is sexual dimorphism among adult Cyamus scammoni, with males being larger than females. Unlike the young of most other marine crustaceans, which have a planktonic larval stage, juvenile whale lice mature in a pouch-like structure called the marsupium, which is located on the underside of females. Photographed in Baja California, Mexico.