 I posted an example of my pastel morph alongside the normal wild type on the isopod subreddit and got an interesting response. @Ant-Motor on Reddit commented "I've had those show up too, but usually they don’t end up doing well in the long run, can you kinda see where yours are starting to flatten out? Mine kept on getting worse and worse with each generation."
I noticed another adult pastel with ragged edges along the base of the tergites, which confirms that it gets more extreme with age. I need more data to prove it, but I'm wondering if since isopod molts are translucent, maybe the pastel morph is actually a morph that causes overgrowth of the tergite plates. If overgrowth is causing the plates to overhang, it could be what's leaving the edges translucent and ragged, creating that pastel highlight against the typical dark coloration. I don't know if the overgrown plates cause them any discomfort, but I'm going to avoid breeding the pastel morph if I can help it until I have more information about what causes it and what the effects on the animals are.
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