Researchers have identified a new species of Bathonymus, the famed genera of deep-sea isopods whose viral internet fame has made them the most famous aquatic crustaceans since Sebastian of"The Little Mermaid."
Deep sea isopods belong to the same group that contains the terrestrial isopods known variously as wood lice, pillbugs, and roly polys, which feed on decaying matter and are likely familiar to anyone who has lifted up a rock or dug around in the garden. Indeed, they look quite similar but for their extraordinary size—the largest of them grow to nearly 50 centimeters. And, just like wood louse, although they perhaps look a little scary, they are completely harmless to humans.
This finding of B. yucatanensis brings another addition to the isopod pantheon and brings the total of known species of Bathonymus in the Gulf of Mexico to three—B. giganteus was described in 1879 and B. maxeyorum was described in 2016.
How and why is a deep sea creature in a gulf?
A gulf isn't deep sea, so what's going on?
Spelling Bathynomus, not Bathonymus. Fig caption has it right, text is wrong.
New Isopod just dropped
JohnRMoffitt this looks like… you know what. Cheers.