Ligia pallasii

Abstract

Ligia pallasii are high intertidal isopods that assist in nutrient cycling in their environment and can act as bioindicators of the health of local systems. This study investigated L. pallasii kinematics through video analysis of their walking and righting speed at temperatures ranging from 13C to 25C. Although not all the data was processed, preliminary results show that the isopods did not exhibit significantly different walking speeds as they explored the experimental tank at leisure, however, at 25C the remaining living animals had significantly longer righting speeds, showing that their thermal tolerance cannot withstand high water temperatures that may occur in a changing climate.