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- ›Skeleton Shrimp, Whale Lice, and Allies

Whale Lice
Cyamidae
A whale louse is a commensal crustacean of the family Cyamidae. Despite the name, they are not true lice (which are insects), but rather are related to the better-known skeleton shrimp, most species of which are found in shallower waters. Whale lice are external parasites, found in skin lesions, genital folds, nostrils and eyes of marine mammals of the order Cetacea. These include not only whales but also dolphins and porpoises.
2 branches of this family, most-observed first
See this branch on the Wheel of Life →Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Cyamidae in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 245493.

