Hydroid shrimp??

I made this shot at Derawan Island, East Kalimantan, Indonesia. It looks like there are a pair of shrimps (?) lying on a hydroid. They are found at around 10m deep.

Can anyone please identify this critter for me?

My first impression is that these are Tozeuma shrimp but I'm not sure. Would you mind sending me a high-res version so I can take a better look?

thanks for putting up the larger file. These aren't shrimp at all. They're isopods. since I don't know much about them I'll forward the url to some friends who are experts in the field.

Okay, we have an answer. The short version is that yes, they are isopods probably in the family Idoteidae. Many members of this family are long & thin & live on blades of sea grass or algae. Now here's the long answer that my friend sent to me (for the taxonomists among us):

"Nice resolution in the photo, although it doesn't allow view of some

critical points. Even family may be tough. It is a flabelliferan isopod as

far as I can see, and very probably an Idoteid. A few years ago the answer

would have been definitely Idoteidae, but recent revisionary actions have

split that family into several parts. This could also be in Chaetiliidae or

Holognathiidae, although, based on distributional patterns for the families,

it is probably not a holognathiid. The elongate body form and antennae held

straight forward and close together suggests Idoteidae to me; it is a stance

used by Erichsonella species in the NEP. I am less familiar with

chaetiliids, however, and it could belong there as well. So few members of

either family are known from the waters yielding this animal that it is new

in all probability. Most members of both these candidate families are taken

from algae or sea-grasses, not hydroids as shown in the photo. A number of

chaetiliids are known from deep water near New Caledonia, however, so they

are clearly not all algal associates. I don't have any of the MUSORSTOM

cruise reports, so don't have access to most of the chaetiliid descriptions.

I've checked through Poore and Lew Ton's revision of the Australian

idoteids, but their material was all temperate, not tropical, and I didn't

find a match with the photoed animal."

Cheers, Leslie

Thanks for the answer

Is it just me, or are they not on a hydroid, but a crinoid?

Caminu

here is waht Buzz Wilson said:

"It may be a Holidoteidae, but I'm not certain. Certain key features are not clear in the image. I don't suppose you have a specimen."

cheerio

Art