# Isopod Breeding



## Chris52 (May 13, 2016)

Hello! I'm still fairly new to isopods, and I'd like to know some about breeding. I received a package from Peter Clausen this morning and I got about 15 orange Porcellios. I noticed that several of them have a distinct black stripe down the center of their "back". In other threads, I have heard mentions of people trying to "breed for that trait". How do you do this? I would imagine that there is more to it than just separating the ones expressing the desired trait. Also, I have seen mentions of inbreeding. What consequences would this have? Any help is appreciated. Thank you! (There are individuals with a stronger pattern than the one in the pic, but this just happened to be the one I saw.)


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## blacksheep998 (May 13, 2016)

The dark stripe down their back isn't something you can breed for. Crustaceans are built backwards from vertebrates. Their gut runs along their back and the main nerve bundle goes along their belly. The isopods with a dark stripe are the ones will a full belly, and the ones lacking it are those who are hungry.

I used to have a very pink fish food I gave my isopods sometimes, and it resulted in a pink stripe down their backs. Particularly on the dalmatians since they were mostly white. But even the oranges had a pinkish stripe after eating it.

Reactions: Like 1 | Agree 3


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## Chris52 (May 14, 2016)

blacksheep998 said:


> The dark stripe down their back isn't something you can breed for. Crustaceans are built backwards from vertebrates. Their gut runs along their back and the main nerve bundle goes along their belly. The isopods with a dark stripe are the ones will a full belly, and the ones lacking it are those who are hungry.
> 
> I used to have a very pink fish food I gave my isopods sometimes, and it resulted in a pink stripe down their backs. Particularly on the dalmatians since they were mostly white. But even the oranges had a pinkish stripe after eating it.


Interesting. I guess it's a good thing, since a majority of my isopods are well fed.

I'd still like to know about their (isopods in general) breeding mechanics, if anyone can explain.

Reactions: Like 1


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## Aquarimax (May 14, 2016)

Chris52 said:


> Hello! I'm still fairly new to isopods, and I'd like to know some about breeding. I received a package from Peter Clausen this morning and I got about. In other threads, I have heard mentions of people trying to "breed for that trait". How do you do this? I would imagine that there is more to it than just separating the ones expressing the desired trait. Also, I have seen mentions of inbreeding. What consequences would this have?


One characteristic of isopods that complicates selective breeding is that the females can store sperm and produce broods of young long after mating, so it is not as simple as choosing a male and a female with a given trait and isolating them. They also become sexually mature at a small size-about 1/3 to 1/2 of their max size.  That said, isolating several specimens with a desired trait can still work...but it can take time. If you have a single-gene recessive trait, like orange in P. scaber, you can do what black sheep88 did and isolate a single gravid individual and found a population from its offspring. He also produced a strain of orange Dalmatian isopods by crossing Dalmatians  with oranges. The first generation of offspring were grey and calico, but a few of the following generation were white with orange spots, just as he predicted. I am replicating his results...my F1 grey and calico isopods should start producing young orange Dalmatians very soon now.

Reactions: Like 1 | Informative 2


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## grimmjowls (May 14, 2016)

Chris52 said:


> Interesting. I guess it's a good thing, since a majority of my isopods are well fed.
> 
> I'd still like to know about their (isopods in general) breeding mechanics, if anyone can explain.


There might be some useful information for you here.


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## blacksheep998 (May 14, 2016)

Good summary Aquarimax. And good to hear your F1's are still doing well. I've been meaning to ask you how your yellow Armadillidium vulgare were doing? I love that one in your profile picture.

Anyway other species have an orange mutation like Porcellio scaber that seems to follow the same single-gene recessive pattern of inheritance. Armadillidium nasatum has an orange color morph called 'peach'. I purchased some of them from Peter last year as well and they've just started breeding for me. 

And I've seen pictures of orange isopods from several other species such as A. vulgare, Philoscia muscorum, and Porcillio haasi. P. haasi are awesome btw, and very high on my want list, in both the regular and orange form (Which is called sunshine) But sadly they're another species not available in the US.

I've also seen pictures of white and dalmatian A. vulgare, as well as various partially white individuals of other species. But I'm not positive they all follow the same pattern of inheritance as the P. scaber dalmatians do. Hisserdude has been having a lot of trouble trying to get his pied Cylisticus convexus to produce more offspring with the color pattern.

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## Aquarimax (May 14, 2016)

blacksheep998 said:


> I've been meaning to ask you how your yellow Armadillidium vulgare were doing? I love that one in your profile picture.


They're reproducing, and at least some of the young appear to have the high-yellow trait, I'm hopeful they will continue to do well.



blacksheep998 said:


> Anyway other species have an orange mutation like Porcellio scaber that seems to follow the same single-gene recessive pattern of inheritance. Armadillidium nasatum has an orange color morph called 'peach'. I purchased some of them from Peter last year as well and they've just started breeding for me.


I got some  A. nasatum 'peach' from Peter last year as well,they're quite attractive. They have been breeding for me as well, though they are nowhere near as prolific as A. maculatum,at least not for me.



blacksheep998 said:


> And I've seen pictures of orange isopods from several other species such as A. vulgare, Philoscia muscorum, and Porcillio haasi. P. haasi are awesome btw, and very high on my want list, in both the regular and orange form (Which is called sunshine) But sadly they're another species not available in the US.


P. haasi 'sunshine' has got to be one of my all-time favorite isopods. I have been in contact with USDA to determine whether or not I can get some shipped...still waiting on an answer.


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## blacksheep998 (May 14, 2016)

Aquarimax said:


> I got some A. nasatum 'peach' from Peter last year as well,they're quite attractive. They have been breeding for me as well, though they are nowhere near as prolific as A. maculatum,at least not for me.


Funny, its exactly the opposite for me. My zebras are mating all the time, but they seem to produce very small batches of young that have a poor survival rate. I almost lost my colony of them at one point because they just weren't breeding fast enough and the older ones were dying off.

The peaches on the other hand have just produced their first offspring about a month ago and I can't believe how many there are. Easily 150+ babies and their number doesn't seem to be dropping at all. 



Aquarimax said:


> P. haasi 'sunshine' has got to be one of my all-time favorite isopods. I have been in contact with USDA to determine whether or not I can get some shipped...still waiting on an answer.


If they do allow it let me know! I'd love to get some too!


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## Chris52 (May 14, 2016)

Those P.  haasi are amazing! Let me know if anyone is able to get some. Thank you!


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## Dovey (May 20, 2016)

Breathtaking!

Reactions: Agree 2


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## Esherman81 (May 31, 2016)

Dovey said:


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 and wow ..I want some lol please hehe


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## LittleOddIsopod (Jan 15, 2018)

mind sending me the pics of the A. Vulgare dals? I’d love to see those, as I have found a “pied” one.


blacksheep998 said:


> Good summary Aquarimax. And good to hear your F1's are still doing well. I've been meaning to ask you how your yellow Armadillidium vulgare were doing? I love that one in your profile picture.
> 
> Anyway other species have an orange mutation like Porcellio scaber that seems to follow the same single-gene recessive pattern of inheritance. Armadillidium nasatum has an orange color morph called 'peach'. I purchased some of them from Peter last year as well and they've just started breeding for me.
> 
> ...


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