Washington State Department of Ecology
Flickr Group
Eyes Under Puget SoundThis species image was collected from Puget Sound sediments and photographed by the Washington State Department of Ecologys Marine Sediment Monitoring Team. For more information about this teams work visit: ecology.wa.gov/Water-Shorelines/Puget-Sound/Sound-science...Cant get enough benthos? Check out our Eyes Under Puget Sound - Critter of the Month blogs at: ecology.wa.gov/Blog/Search?tag=7&category=2
We find this amphipod amoung blades of the green alga Ulva, low intertidal, where it is beautifully camouflaged. Note the prominent compound eye. The bright red color is due to the visual pigment rhodopsin, present in all known animal photoreptors.