Ligia Oceania in captivity

M

MossyMillipede

Arachnopeon
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I wonder if it would be possible to successfully keep a functioning colony of sea slaters [ligia oceania]? Any ideas? I've attached a link for reference.

Sea slater | The Wildlife Trusts

These little critters are related to the woodlice you find in your garden and play a very important role on rocky shores.
www.wildlifetrusts.org www.wildlifetrusts.org
 
M

MossyMillipede

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Ponerinecat

Ponerinecat

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I've seen people just use containers with one half being rocks and the other a bit of sand or lower rocks covered with salt water. I will also probably help to have a current and a filter. Definitely one of the more demanding terrestrial isopods you can try. The same setup can also work for other intertidal isopods like Exosphaeroma, if you want. They feed on dead animals and algae/bacteria in the wild, so grow a bit of algae and seaweed on your rocks before you introduce the isopods. I've also seen an acquaintance feed them lettuce with success, although I'm not sure how his attempt turned out.
 
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MossyMillipede

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Ponerinecat said:
I've seen people just use containers with one half being rocks and the other a bit of sand or lower rocks covered with salt water. I will also probably help to have a current and a filter. Definitely one of the more demanding terrestrial isopods you can try. The same setup can also work for other intertidal isopods like Exosphaeroma, if you want. They feed on dead animals and algae/bacteria in the wild, so grow a bit of algae and seaweed on your rocks before you introduce the isopods. I've also seen an acquaintance feed them lettuce with success, although I'm not sure how his attempt turned out.
Click to expand...
How would I grow algae and seaweed?
 
Ponerinecat

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
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341
Also be very careful transporting them, they'll need some sort of surface soaked with salt water to survive. A bare container won't work, they die very quickly.
 
X

Xeroporcellio

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As already stated, Ligia spp. can probably be kept in captivity, although they are more sensitive than the ''classic'', fully terrestrial isopods. Recently, I tried to do this with Ligia italica. The animals survived for 1-1.5 months and even bred (actually, one of the females was in a late stage of pregnancy and released her babies after a while). Below, I will present the details of keeping them and the possible reasons of failure. I hope that they will be helpful:

Transporting the slaters
For this, you can use a small, tight-sealed plastic box with two pin-sized holes on the lid and a folded napkin inside (see the relevant picture-just ignore the Pseudomogoplistes squamiger cricket, leaves, carrot piece and feces; I use my plastic box as his temporary ''pen'' for now). Spray the napkin with water (not necessarily saltwater, tap water will do the same job) until it's all very wet (but not drippy). Then, put the slaters and a piece of wet seaweed inside (the weed will provide both extra moisture and a hiding place during transportation). Finally, put on the lid and make sure that while returning home, the box will be kept in a cool, shaded place (e.g., inside a backpack) and not shaken too much.

The habitat
I kept my specimens in two slightly different habitats:
a) The first one has a rather deep (c. 5 cm) layer of beach sand and three big pebbles/rocks embedded in it. For decor, I used a piece of driftwood and a reed that I found in the beach, plus some pieces of stranded, rotting sea plants (Posidonia oceanica) and Vallisneria leaves from my aquarium.
b) The second one has a deeper layer of sand at its one half (c. 10 cm) and some rounded pebbles embedded in c. 4 cm of sand at its other. In the middle (as a divider) it has a big piece of driftwood, mostly buried in the sediment, and another, thinner piece above it. Again, pieces of Posidonia and Vallisneria are all over the place (note that in the relevant photo, the characteristics of the exhibit aren't especially visible, because of the layer of rotting leaves. Those leaves were added as an extra food supply and hiding/moisture-keeping places for the rest of the species that live in there, after Ligia died).
Both exhibits had some pieces of cuttlebone and/or eggshell in them, as a source of calcium. For ventilation, I made two pin-like holes at one side of the lid (the ''humid'' part) and around 12 at the other (the more ''ventilated'' part).

Caring for Ligia
To be honest, I didn't look after them more than my other isopod species, but they didn't seem to be bothered! Once a week, I was adding some pieces of carrot and/or zucchini as a fresh source of food, which they loved munching on [I never saw them feeding on Posidonia or Vallisneria pieces, but that doesn't mean they didn't; Also, I suspect that they would love some pieces of algae-based fish food, e.g., like this (
www.ebay.co.uk

JBL NovoFect 250ml - Novo Fect Vegetarian Tabs Fish Food Tablets in Original Tub 4014162302489 | eBay

Clown loaches (Botia macranthus) love a vegetable diet. If you don’t feed them regularly with JBL NovoFect you’ll notice how the loaches “punch” small round holes out of the plant leaves. Press the tablet onto the tank glass to let you observe the fish while they enjoy their food.
www.ebay.co.uk
), but I never tried it], and sprayed half of the inside of the lid (the ''humid'' part) with dechlorised tap water.

Results
The animals seemed to have no problem adapting and living under either habitat and, as I already stated, they even bred in there! The babies, also, seemed to grow normally (I initially put the collected specimens into habitat a, but, because they bred in there and I had other species with them that could be potentially out-competed by a large Ligia population, I transferred the adults to habitat b. I left the babies in a, until they were large enough to be collected and transferred safely). The whole thing worked fine for 1-1.5 months, but then the population collapsed. Below, are my thoughts of why this happened.

Failure
Before writing the potential reasons of this failure, I have to note that 1) I started the whole project at late June/early July, an exceptionally hot period here in Greece and with a small number (3-4) of specimens, 2) I keep my isopod cultures inside an old, not-working mini fridge in the garden (as a result, temperature inside the fridge-even if the door is constantly closed, can vary according to the season and 3) I had a long vacation this year (c. 2-2.5 weeks). Interestingly, the only species that I totally lost was Ligia italica. Now, some thoughts about the failure (a common catalyst is surely my long absence):
a) The animals died because of starvation (see caring).
b) The animals died because of the heat.
c) The animals died because of less-than-ideal moisture.
d) The animals died because of a combination of some or all of the above reasons.

Final thoughts
I intend to restart the project at some point (it depends on when I will revisit the beach to collect more specimens) and see how it will turn out again. Also, I recommend you (if you have the mood, time and appropriate materials) creating two different habitats; one that is more natural and elaborate as @Ponerinecat suggested and one that is more ''handy'', like mine. Put around 10-12 adults in each habitat and try to keep them for long term. It would be nice if you could remember to inform us about the success or failure of this project!

Interesting fact
Recently, Ligia was proved to be more closely related to true marine isopods (Valvifera and Spheromatidea) than to the rest of terrestrial species (Oniscidea) (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-55071-4). This essentially means that Oniscidea, as currently constituted, is a paraphyletic assemblage and that isopods conquered land in at least two different waves! A way to correct this paraphyly is by separating Ligiidae into two different families: Ligiidae (for Ligia) and ''Ligidiidae'' or something similar (for Ligidium and kin).
 

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Ponerinecat

Ponerinecat

Arachnobaron
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Messages
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Interesting, I've never seen a setup for these without open sources of salt water.
 
M

MossyMillipede

Arachnopeon
Joined
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Messages
10
W
Xeroporcellio said:
As already stated, Ligia spp. can probably be kept in captivity, although they are more sensitive than the ''classic'', fully terrestrial isopods. Recently, I tried to do this with Ligia italica. The animals survived for 1-1.5 months and even bred (actually, one of the females was in a late stage of pregnancy and released her babies after a while). Below, I will present the details of keeping them and the possible reasons of failure. I hope that they will be helpful:

Transporting the slaters
For this, you can use a small, tight-sealed plastic box with two pin-sized holes on the lid and a folded napkin inside (see the relevant picture-just ignore the Pseudomogoplistes squamiger cricket, leaves, carrot piece and feces; I use my plastic box as his temporary ''pen'' for now). Spray the napkin with water (not necessarily saltwater, tap water will do the same job) until it's all very wet (but not drippy). Then, put the slaters and a piece of wet seaweed inside (the weed will provide both extra moisture and a hiding place during transportation). Finally, put on the lid and make sure that while returning home, the box will be kept in a cool, shaded place (e.g., inside a backpack) and not shaken too much.

The habitat
I kept my specimens in two slightly different habitats:
a) The first one has a rather deep (c. 5 cm) layer of beach sand and three big pebbles/rocks embedded in it. For decor, I used a piece of driftwood and a reed that I found in the beach, plus some pieces of stranded, rotting sea plants (Posidonia oceanica) and Vallisneria leaves from my aquarium.
b) The second one has a deeper layer of sand at its one half (c. 10 cm) and some rounded pebbles embedded in c. 4 cm of sand at its other. In the middle (as a divider) it has a big piece of driftwood, mostly buried in the sediment, and another, thinner piece above it. Again, pieces of Posidonia and Vallisneria are all over the place (note that in the relevant photo, the characteristics of the exhibit aren't especially visible, because of the layer of rotting leaves. Those leaves were added as an extra food supply and hiding/moisture-keeping places for the rest of the species that live in there, after Ligia died).
Both exhibits had some pieces of cuttlebone and/or eggshell in them, as a source of calcium. For ventilation, I made two pin-like holes at one side of the lid (the ''humid'' part) and around 12 at the other (the more ''ventilated'' part).

Caring for Ligia
To be honest, I didn't look after them more than my other isopod species, but they didn't seem to be bothered! Once a week, I was adding some pieces of carrot and/or zucchini as a fresh source of food, which they loved munching on [I never saw them feeding on Posidonia or Vallisneria pieces, but that doesn't mean they didn't; Also, I suspect that they would love some pieces of algae-based fish food, e.g., like this (
www.ebay.co.uk

JBL NovoFect 250ml - Novo Fect Vegetarian Tabs Fish Food Tablets in Original Tub 4014162302489 | eBay

Clown loaches (Botia macranthus) love a vegetable diet. If you don’t feed them regularly with JBL NovoFect you’ll notice how the loaches “punch” small round holes out of the plant leaves. Press the tablet onto the tank glass to let you observe the fish while they enjoy their food.
www.ebay.co.uk
), but I never tried it], and sprayed half of the inside of the lid (the ''humid'' part) with dechlorised tap water.

Results
The animals seemed to have no problem adapting and living under either habitat and, as I already stated, they even bred in there! The babies, also, seemed to grow normally (I initially put the collected specimens into habitat a, but, because they bred in there and I had other species with them that could be potentially out-competed by a large Ligia population, I transferred the adults to habitat b. I left the babies in a, until they were large enough to be collected and transferred safely). The whole thing worked fine for 1-1.5 months, but then the population collapsed. Below, are my thoughts of why this happened.

Failure
Before writing the potential reasons of this failure, I have to note that 1) I started the whole project at late June/early July, an exceptionally hot period here in Greece and with a small number (3-4) of specimens, 2) I keep my isopod cultures inside an old, not-working mini fridge in the garden (as a result, temperature inside the fridge-even if the door is constantly closed, can vary according to the season and 3) I had a long vacation this year (c. 2-2.5 weeks). Interestingly, the only species that I totally lost was Ligia italica. Now, some thoughts about the failure (a common catalyst is surely my long absence):
a) The animals died because of starvation (see caring).
b) The animals died because of the heat.
c) The animals died because of less-than-ideal moisture.
d) The animals died because of a combination of some or all of the above reasons.

Final thoughts
I intend to restart the project at some point (it depends on when I will revisit the beach to collect more specimens) and see how it will turn out again. Also, I recommend you (if you have the mood, time and appropriate materials) creating two different habitats; one that is more natural and elaborate as @Ponerinecat suggested and one that is more ''handy'', like mine. Put around 10-12 adults in each habitat and try to keep them for long term. It would be nice if you could remember to inform us about the success or failure of this project!

Interesting fact
Recently, Ligia was proved to be more closely related to true marine isopods (Valvifera and Spheromatidea) than to the rest of terrestrial species (Oniscidea) (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-55071-4). This essentially means that Oniscidea, as currently constituted, is a paraphyletic assemblage and that isopods conquered land in at least two different waves! A way to correct this paraphyly is by separating Ligiidae into two different families: Ligiidae (for Ligia) and ''Ligidiidae'' or something similar (for Ligidium and kin).
Click to expand...
Wow, very informative!

It's colder here in England, and I know where there's wild sea slaters nearby - I might watch how they act in the wild, to give me ideas of how to keep them in captivity. I also know of places where I could get algae flakes.

Thanks for the reply!
 
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