New Giant Deep-Sea Isopod Discovered in The Gulf of Mexico

In the event of a catastrophe, it is said that the last lifeform left on Earth will be roaches. There is a bug that could give roaches a run for their money.

For 200 or 300 million years, a group of football-sized isopods have been roaming the seafloor.

Bathynomus giganteus can be found at depths of more than 2500 meters. It might be two species rolled up in one after being caught off the Gulf of Mexico in 1879.

There are subtle but significant differences in the shape and structure of giant isopods found in the deep sea.

There was a specimen that had a slender body compared to other B. giganteus specimen.

B. giganteus has been found before off the Yucatn Peninsula. Something was off about this one. It was slightly shorter in total length and its antennae were long.

Researchers think the specimen is a new species of Bathynomus and have named it B. yucatanensis.

The new species has the same number of spines as B. giganteus. That was thought to be a point of difference between species.

Other specimen from the South China Sea were wrongly labelled as B. jamesi.

The authors of the analysis write that there is a long history of misidentification of species in the Bathynomus group.

Scientists have cataloged about twenty species of living creatures.

These aquatic animals are related to crabs, shrimp and lobsters in many ways.

We don't know much about giant isopods. Sometimes they don't have food for a long time.

It is important to get to the table first when a meal is available.

It took just one day for a group of giant Bathynomus bugs to descend on the alligator carcass.

It's not unusual for alligator carcasses to wash into the Gulf of Mexico from rivers or storms.

Giant isopods bugs are a known food source for the whales.

While they wait for the next meal, what else do they do?

The new paper concludes 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.

Giant pill bugs have been around for a long time, even though we might just be seeing them now.

It's a good chance they beat us. They have a better track record.

The study was published in a peer-reviewed journal.