This is a color morph that I found in the wild among a regular colony of Cubaris murina "little seas" and isolated and cultured myself. Due to the locality in which they were found and the state fruit of Florida, being oranges... I named them “Florida Orange”.
Description- This small isopod species, which is normally grey with two orange dots on their end pleon (tail segment) has in the past year and a half, bred consistent orange offspring of varying shades with brown eyes. These isopods are very productive breeders and have large broods quite often. The orange hued murina isopods prefer an ambient temperature of 70- 85 degrees Fahrenheit.
Temperature- Though they are found in the wild where temperatures go much higher than this, meaning they can survive at temperatures exceeding 95 degrees F but require more moisture to be able to do so.
Feeding - The isopods prefer a varied diet consisting of root vegetables, fish flakes, Repashy Morning Wood, dried leaves and bark, and protein that is given in the form of dried minnow, crickets and mealworms at least once per week. I encourage these isopods have access to calcium at all times, which can be found in cuttlebone, oyster shell (I have used crushed), coral based aquarium rock or actual limestone stones or pieces.
Habitat- The Environment where this morph was originally located is typical of much of coastal Florida. Underneath a Saw Palmetto tree, next to a Cabbage Palm, under some leaf debris the cubaris murina was found in great numbers, with only one orange morph seen and collected. The area featured native Myakka fine sand soil, which is a loamy sand that covers more than a million acres of flatwood areas in the state.
The location of my initial discovery was in my backyard, in Broward County, Southeast Florida. Though there have been others with orange hued anomalies showing up in their wild caught Cubaris murina "little seas" cultures throughout the state, there have been no reports of isolation of this morph.
In captivity, the Cubaris murina, “Florida Orange” does well with a basic substrate made of a combination of topsoil, leaf litter, sand, charcoal and sphagnum moss. I tend to add limestone supplements in the form of pelletized lime or limestone base rock for aquariums.I have seen great success with my own mixture of substrate but also with commercially available brands like Reptisoil, with decomposing or dead leaf matter added.
This culture is different from the few orange cubaris murinas in the U.S hobby, as they did not come from Zai Seers, who imported his original colony. I have been working on documenting my findings in a journal article that will be submitted to the University of Florida entomology department Fall 2022. If they print the paper, I will make it available on the website.