Sea mites live burrowed in coarse sediments in shallow subtidal environments in New South Wales and Victoria.
Sea mites lead complicated lives.
The juvenile stage, called a praniza, lives attached to the skin of a fish where it feeds on blood and mucus which it obtains with sharp little jaws. The male maintains a harem of females in a communal burrow in sandy rubble or algae. There are many species of gnathiids in all marine environments in Australia.