UPENDED SOWBUG

As part of a photographic project, I had been seeking aquatic sowbugs to shoot for the last several weeks, but struck out at one site after another. I had hoped to find some in a western Montana spring creek, but only some scuds showed their tiny crustacean faces there. So my last hope was a detour to the Crooked River on my way home. Luckily I struck the mother load there (thanks to the several Westflyers who suggested that location to me), and got a series of photos of this little isopod.

I was struck by how slow and clumsy they are, as in this shot where an upended fellow was unable to right himself for the longest time, and just lay there kicking uselessly at the bottom of the aquarium. It's a good thing they spend most of their time hiding under stuff on the bottom, because once in the stream drift they would surely be easy pickings for any nearby trout.
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