Sea
Lice in General
Sea lice belong to the class Crustacea, the order Copepoda, the suborder Siphonostomatoida and the family Caligidae. They have a rigid exoskeleton made of a protein called chitin which is shed every time they moult.
Sea lice hatch out of eggs, and when they do, they are visible only as small, black dots. The early stages are free-swimming, but the later, more visible stages stay attached to or very close to the surface of the fish, where they feed on mucus, blood, and skin.
