“Baby Dragon” observed underneath stone within mid-intertidal zone of Whitburn beach… “It’s definitely a baby Dragon…I’ve read about them” – can’t argue with my daughters logic and wonderful to have so many conversations about this observation during rock pool searches.
We have seen similar marine isopods in the past at this locale (see Comments) but never observed an individual appearing quite so annoyed – under-arching back with front ‘claws evident and back legs and pleotelson tooth on display. This individual displayed this pose for several minutes until the tide came in; it flattened its body, located the crevices in the rock and “swam away with a quick tail flap (Photos 8-12). In-situ observation Photos 3,4; length approx 15mm (10 pence size reference).

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