Sea Monster or Giant Crustacean?
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Giant isopods are important scavengers in the deep-sea; they are found from the gloomy zones at a depth of 560 feet to the pitch darkness of the <i>bathypelagic </i>zone at 7,020 feet and beyond, where pressures are high and temperatures are very low -- down to about 39 degrees. They are thought to prefer a muddy or clay substrate and lead solitary lives. (Imgur)
Although generally scavengers, these isopods are mostly carnivorous and feed on dead whales, fish, and squid; they may also be active predators of slow-moving prey such as sea cucumbers, sponges, radiolarians, nematodes, and other zoobenthos, and perhaps even live fish. They are known to attack trawl catches. (Imgur)
A frontal view of<i> Bathynomus giganteus, </i>showing its large, highly reflective compound eyes. (Borgx/Wikipedia)
A tray full of giant isopods and <i>Rochina</i> crabs recovered in a trap from the ocean floor. (NOAA / OER)
The underside of a giant isopod captured in a trap by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Ocean Explorer. This specimen is a male. Image courtesy of Gulf of Mexico 2002, (NOAA/OER)
This giant isopod (a crustacean related to shrimps and crabs) represents one of about nine species of large isopods in the genus <i>Bathynomus.</i> They are thought to be abundant in cold, deep waters of the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. Bob Carney of Louisiana State University caught this specimen in one of his deep-water fish traps. (NOAA Vents Program)
a screen shot from a YouTube video showing the giant isopod in its natural environment: the deepest depths of the ocean. (YouTube)
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