The new species of Bathonymus is the most famous of the deep-sea isopods due to their popularity on the internet.
The benthic zone of the ocean is home to around 20 species of living Bathonymus. The isopod crustaceans are related to the crabs, shrimp, and lobsters.
A group of Taiwanese, Japanese, and Australian researchers published their findings in the Journal of Natural History and discovered a new species that is 2,500% larger than the wood louse.
The deep sea isopods are similar to the isopods found on the ground in the form of wood louse, pillbugs, and roly polys. The largest of them grow to nearly 50 centimeters in size. They are just as harmless to humans as wood louse.
Their strange features and unusual dimensions have spawned endless meme and a range of products celebrating their endearing weird.
B. giganteus and B. maxeyorum were described in 1879 and 1916, respectively.
It was thought to be a variation of B. giganteus, the largest deep-sea isopod. The specimen was caught in a baited trap in the Gulf of Mexico off the Yucatn Peninsula at around 600 to 800 meters down.
The authors claim that B. giganteus and B. maxeyorum are different.
The individual studied was different from its family members. The pereopods are more slender than B. giganteus. It also has long hair. Both species have the same number of spine. The tail of the crustacean has bones.
"Bathynomus giganteus was discovered over a century ago, and more than 1,000 specimen have been studied with no suggestion of a new species," they say. A specimen of B. giganteus could easily be mistaken for B. yucatanensis.
The most distinguishing feature of B. maxeyorum is the number of spines. The yellow color of the shell made it distinct from its greyer relatives.
The scientists compared the genetics of B. giganteus and B. Yucatanensis. They wrote that it was a new species due to the different sequence of the genes. B. giganteus was shown to be the most closely related to B. yucatanensis.
The authors claim that B. giganteus is close to B. yucatanensis. It is believed that the two species had a common Ancestor. There may be other undiscovered Bathynomus spp.
The paper states that the specimen from the South China Sea is actually B. jamesi. The Coral Sea is located off the coast of Australia.
The authors caution that there is a long history of misidentification of species in the Bathynomus group.
They note that the new species distinctions have implications for the preservation of the environment. They say that some species of Bathynomus have commercial potential. It is important to know which giant isopods are being caught.
More information: A new species of Bathynomus Milne-Edwards, 1879 (Isopoda: Cirolanidae) from the southern Gulf of Mexico with a redescription of Bathynomus jamesi Kou, Chen and Li, 2017 from off Pratas Island, Taiwan, Journal of Natural History (2022). DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2022.2086835 Journal information: Journal of Natural History
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