Blocks of color

 

 

A fun isopod (Synidotea sp.) photographed in the low intertidal zone on 15 July 2022.  (There are two individuals in this image; the larger male is holding a smaller female underneath him.)

 

I was struck by the interesting blocks of colors.  And even more so a little while later when I was trying to photograph a cluster of sea spiders (pycnogonids).  

 

I didn't noticed it at first, but a smaller isopod with similar coloration was hidden among the hydroids and sea spiders.  Can you find the isopod in the image below?

 

 

 

The isopod is very close to the center of the image.  

 

I've circled it in the photo below.  (Its head is down and to the left side of the circle.)

 

You can see how well the various colors of the isopod blend in with the sand grains, hydroid stalks (red/brown), and scattered shell fragments.