That’s the kind of area where you would find them.”. Alice Hsieh, Aquarium of the Pacific. “The trick is what to feed them and how to eat them,” she says. Funnily enough, tiny pillbugs have an especially close resemblance to these large sea animals. Although their bug-like antennae and terrifying faces might make them seem like ferocious predators, giant isopods typically scavenge for animals that are already dead to sustain themselves. As they grow into their full adult size, they also develop the last pair of legs along the way. Typically, giant isopods are between 7.5 and 14.2 inches in length, but they can get much bigger: One specimen pulled up with an ROV in 2010 was 2.5 feet long. It is suggested that to find prey, they rely mainly on chemoreception and possibly mechanoreception, a sensory receptor that responds to mechanical pressure or distortion. “They're scavengers—they're definitely going to bite on anything. There are 20 known species in the genus Bathynomus; B. giganteus, or the giant isopod, is the biggest. But even though these full-grown giant isopods look super fierce, their soft underbellies still make them vulnerable to threats. Many said it resembled a roly-poly or a pillbug — and it’s not hard to see why. Because they prefer to live in deep waters, they went undiscovered until 1879, when French zoologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards encountered one in the Gulf of Mexico. The giant isopod’s scavenging skills make it incredibly important for maintaining the health of the ocean floor. One of the largest specimens on record was a 2.5-foot-long behemoth found in 2010. It is widely believed that they are scavengers; however, there is some evidence that they are also facultative predators, feeding on both live and dead animals. “The small antennas are used more for chemical sensing,” Auten says, “and they have large antennas that are used for physical sensing. The top of the first shell segment protrudes out over the isopod’s large, fixed eyes. Natasha Ishak is a staff writer at All That's Interesting. For all that we know about the giant isopod, there is still much that we don’t know, including why this crustacean got so big in the first place. If they eat, they eat a lot.” In fact, they eat so much that they compromise their ability to move. From the fossil record, it is thought that giant isopods existed more than 160 million years ago, before the break-up of the supercontinent Pangaea. They are up to 6 cm (3.4 in) in length and almost fully developed, lacking only the last pair of pereopods. The giant isopod in question had hitched a ride on an underwater remotely operated vehicle (ROV) that had submerged 8,500 feet below the surface. The technician who found it posted an image on Reddit, asking for people to help him identify the creature. A giant isopod is any of the almost 20 species of large isopods (crustaceans distantly related to shrimp and crabs, which are decapods) in the genus Bathynomus. Although they might look the part, giant isopods are not bugs. They are an example of deep sea gigantism, the ability of deep sea creatures to grow much larger than their relatives in shallow waters. “When they're hungry and they're eating, definitely have a lot of food around them, because they'll keep eating,” Auten says. Giant isopods are carnivores. Food is extremely scarce at these great depths, so the isopod has adapted to eat what ever happens to fall from above. These sea species mostly live in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Japan and also in the South China Sea. Watching ours, you can see they do that. The giant isopod’s large appetite makes it an important scavenger in the ocean. Decreasing temperature is thought to result in increased cell size and increased life span, both of which lead to an increase in maximum body size. They definitely would not fight.” And apparently, they’re not picky: Three giant isopods collected in the southern Gulf of Mexico had ingested large quantities of plastic. Really big. I’ll butterfly a dead mackerel so that the insides are coming out, and then I will present it in front the isopod. Meet The Giant Isopod, The 20-Inch-Long Crustacean Of Your Nightmares. However, giant isopods are encountering human threats. Younger isopods molt often to gain size, but “when they get older, they don't molt as much,” Auten says. Scientists suspect their oversized bodies could be an adaptation to the harsh environment of the ocean floor. The first pair of pereopods is modified to help move food to the isopod’s four sets of jaws. Giant isopods have four sets of jaws—which are adapted to cut and tear at prey—and they get a workout when the animals are hungry. The giant isopod has a complex mouth that with many components that work together to pierce, shred, and disembowel their p… There’s a comic of one giant isopod eating a dead whale, and it eats the whole thing except for the bones. So these oversized crustaceans protect themselves by curling up into a ball — just like pillbugs, their tiny land-crawling cousins. But there’s more to these strange sea creatures than you might think. The giant isopod is also related to terrestrial crustaceans, such as Armadillidium vulgare, commonly known as the pillbug or roly-poly. Yes, they're kind of creepy looking. went for five years without eating a single bite, before dying earlier this year. These compound eyes are spaced far apart and have over 4,000 individual facets. “They’ll eat a lot at one time and then they can go for a long time without eating. Giant isopods are not listed on the IUCN Red List. Founded in June 1998, the Aquarium of the Pacific is a 501©3 non-profit organization. This order includes several other animals that inhabit a wide variety of environments, so giant isopods have relatives both on land and in the water. They’re crustaceans that belong to the order Isopoda. It’s pretty dark where isopods live, so, according to Auten, vision isn’t really a factor for them, or many other deep sea animals. Named Bathynomus raksasa ("rakasa" is the Indonesian word for "giant"), the sizable sea bug measures about 13 inches (330 mm) in length, on average. These isopods can go for long periods of time without eating. So they're able to slow down their metabolism and energy level so they can survive. “If it's eating something and a fish is trying to come over and take the food from them or bite their appendages, they'll roll over to keep their food or to keep their soft organs underneath protected,” Auten says.”They would cover themselves so that nothing will attach to them. Males have two specialized organs: Small white appendages, called peenies (top left), that carry sperm (fun fact: smaller isopods usually have bigger peenies, according to Auten), and appendices masculinae (bottom), which they use to transfer sperm to the female. Giant isopods are one of the largest crustaceans and the largest known member of the isopod family, a group of crustaceans that are closely related to shrimp and crabs. “They are capable of molting, but they’ve already reached their size, so they’re not going to molt as much—or they’re not going to molt at all, because molting is only for growth.”, Photo courtesy Flickr user Damien du Toit; cc, “I wear gloves when I work with ours,” Auten says. They’re crustaceans, and are closely related to marine crustaceans like shrimp and crabs, and terrestrial crustaceans like the pillbug (Armadillidium vulgare). years without food when kept in a protected environment such as an aquarium. Marine biologists are still trying to figure out the answer to this question, but there are some possible explanations. They don't move, they're not doing anything. I’ll butterfly a dead mackerel so that the insides are coming out, and then I will present it in front the isopod. Reddit. Giant isopods live between 550 to 7020 feet deep (and potentially deeper), and prefer a mud or clay floor, which they burrow into for shelter. They have two pairs of antennae, one small and one large, located at the front of its body. It is believed that the isopod will also feed on some slow-moving animals such as sea cucumbers and sponges.
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