unknown critter. can anyone I.D.?

Can anyone I.D. these critters?

0.5mm in size. Philippines.

Thanks a bunch!

These have been in a thread before, but the photos are no longer available. Here is what shrimp/crustacean/poddie expert Art said,

well, for the moment the consensus is Isopoda - Asellota, maybe Santiidae (but probably not genus Santia, see my message above), certainly not Amphipoda

Cheers,

Marli

They're an undescribed species of the isopod genus Santia. it was confirmed by an expert at the Smithsonian. The first link is the thread Marli referred to; the second is a paper on the function of the orange cyanobacteria which cover the animal.

http://wetpixel.com/forums/index.php?showt...3&hl=santia

http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/picrender...mp;blobtype=pdf