Bathynomus Giganteus:
Terrifying sea beast hauled up
Jeremy A. Kaplan
A submarine exploring the ocean's depths recently returned with an
unexpected visitor - a crablike critter called Bathynomus giganteus
(commonly known as giant isopod) that has left many readers startled and
horrified.
In a posting to social bookmarking site Reddit, a deep-sea technician
detailed finding the Bathynomus giganteus, asking the site's readers to
help identify what exactly the bizarre-looking creature was.
The post reads, "I work for a Sub-sea Survey Company, recently this
beast came up attached to one of our ROVs. It measures a wee bit over
2.5 feet head to tail, and we expect it latched onto the ROV at roughly
8,500 feet depth.
"Unfortunately, the e-mail that these pictures were attached to came
from a contractor, and the ship he was operating from (and therefore
location) is unknown, so I can't tell you what part of the Earth this
beast was living."
The pictures reveal Bathynomus giganteus to be a giant isopod, a
large crustacean that dwells in deep Atlantic and Pacific waters.
This particular creature is a deep-sea scavenger that feeds on dead
whales, fish and squid.
Scientists have long remarked on the massive scale of Bathynomus
giganteus.
C R McClain, writing about Bathynomus giganteus on ScienceBlogs,
explained one theory for the size, that "deep-sea gigantism, for all
crustaceans, is a consequence of larger cells sizes obtained under cold
temperatures," citing a research paper from 1996.
He also speculated that "in crustaceans, bathymetric gigantism may
also in part reflect decreases in temperature leading to longer
lifespans and thus larger sizes in indeterminate growers."
Bathynomus Giganteus post inspires curiosity, horror
Responses to the original post ranged from the curious to the
horrified. One reader notes the connection between Bathynomus giganteus
and a more familiar household pest, "The giant isopod is related to the
"woodlouse", turns out this is the common bug that I grew up calling a "roly
poly" or pillbug.
Others were more disgusted with Bathynomus giganteus. "I remember
watching some documentary with a time lapse of these things swarming a
whale carcass. it was horrifying," writes one reader.
Another reader saw nothing but dinner in the flesh of Bathynomus
giganteus, writing "It could be because I really like seafood, but those
isopods look tasty. Land bugs = ew! Sea bugs = mm mmm good." National
Geography
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