Thank you to everyone who helped us transcribe the marine mammal lice microscope slides. As we process the images and data from the louse collection, it will become available on the Museum's Data Portal for anyone in the world to study. We are currently preparing our next Miniature Lives Magnified project for the new year.
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Parasitic lice are scientifically valuable for studying co-evolutionary processes. Your help with this collection will help us understand much more about how these pairings of species have influenced each other over time.
NHM_LondonAbout Miniature Lives Magnified
LICE OF THE OPEN OCEANS
Few insect species have colonised the open ocean despite their success on land. However, sucking lice can be found on marine mammals such as sea lions, walruses and seals (known as pinnipeds).
Because lice live on the outside of their hosts, they have evolved to be highly host specific, and the majority of lice species are completely unique to their particular host species. Some pinnipeds can remain at a depth of 1500m for over two hours. This means that the lice are submitted to massive hydrostatic pressure. Pinnipeds also spend periods of weeks to months submerged in the open ocean, so the lice also need to be able to survive cold temperatures and low oxygen environments.
These pinniped lice also have adaptations that are influenced by the anatomy of their hosts. For example, marine mammals such as fur seals have a layer of air trapped under their waterproof coats that insulates them against cold water - so their lice actually live in a mostly dry, warm habitat. Other marine mammals have blubber for insulation, so their skin is in contact with the water - their lice parasites live in a cold aquatic environment.
You can find out more about the pinniped lice - known by the scientific name Echinophthiriidae - on Wikipedia.