A larger relative of the mud flea, growing up to the size of a human hand. Lives in the soft upper mud of the tidelands, where it filters through the sediment, extracting and consuming organic detritus. This processing and filtration ensures fresh mud is churned to the surface and nutrients are distributed downwards, keeping the tidelands healthy.
They have a longer lifespans than their tiny relatives, typically living to produce many batches of offspring. They carry their fertilized eggs against their body, allowing their larvae to disperse throughout the mud at they hatch. About as large as a fully-grown mud flea, the louse larvae seek out and consume pupating mud fleas beneath the surface as they grow. The larvae have no pupation stage, instead gradually metamorphosizing into mature adults; as their soft flesh becomes chitinous, protruding legs and antenna begin to develop.
They are part of the tidal nomad diet, who track them by the indented trail they leave on the surface when they tunnel and grab them up from the mud in one swift movement. To avoid this predation, they have learned to shelter in the mud under clusters of vegetation like slime kelp.