As said on many-an-occasion, in the event of a future catastrophe, cockroaches will be the only living things that will remain on the face of the Earth. However, there is another mysterious bug lifeform that can be spotted in the ocean depths, that could give roaches a run-for-their-money.
A group of isopods, the size of a football, that has been wandering on the seafloor for 200 or 300 million years; a giant, blown-up roly-poly bug of sorts.
Bathynomus Giganteus, one of the largest living isopod species today, can be seen at depths of over 8,200 feet (2,500 meters). The species was first spotted in 1879 in the Gulf of Mexico. As the species turns out, it was considered that may be two individual species rolled-up into one.
The latest analysis concerned with the famous giant isopods living in the deep sea, has discovered that this specimen has major yet subtle differences in their shape, structure, and DNA.
For example, one living species that was detected in 2017, had a slender body shape as compared to other giganteus species, despite being initially designated as that species itself.
The mysterious living creature was spotted where B. Giganteus had been previously detected, which is located off the Yucatán Peninsula at a depth of between 600 and 800 meters deep. However, for this instance, there was something different. It was somewhat shorter in length, measuring 10 inches (26 centimeters), and its antennae were comparatively longer to a certain extent.
However, further information about this species needs to be confirmed, which includes its exact taxonomic ranking, as scientists are doubtful that it might represent a new individual species of Bathynomus. They named this species B. Yucatanensis.
Until now, this new specimen has possibly gone overlooked by scientists as it has quite an equal number of spines on its tails as B. Giganteus. Previously, this element was considered a key point of distinction between these two species.
Scientists also mentioned that other species from the South China Sea were mistakenly considered as B. Kensleyi, which were then identified as an actual B. Jamesi by analyzing its molecular and morphological elements.
The authors of this analysis wrote that when it comes to the overall appearance of this mysterious species, then it is obvious that the species of Bathynomus may be extremely similar to this. Additionally, there is already a long history of misidentifying species in the genus.
At this point, researchers have categorized around 20 different species of living animals belonging to the Bathynomus genus.
Even if these aquatic creatures have a similar look to giant terrestrial woodlouse, they are also more or less related to shrimp, crabs, and lobsters.
Besides their relative species, scientists don’t know anything about giant isopods. However, what they really know is that they can compete with significant extinction events. And in certain cases, they can live without food for several years. But, this is what is probably needed in the deep sea, as it is a place where nutrients are rare and are violently competed over. For example, when food becomes available, it needs something in return to get to eat first.
For giant isopods bugs, whale falls are also considered a food source. In 2019, when scientists dropped an alligator carcass into the Gulf of Mexico, it took just one day for a group of giant Bathynomus bugs to consume the same. It was then noticed that some of them consume so much food that they started falling over, as though stupefied.
But, the mystery about these creatures is what else they do while waiting for their next meal to fall to the ocean floor?
A new paper concludes that B. Giganteus is surely the closest species to B. Yucatanensis. This ultimately means that in all probability, these two species share a common ancestor. In addition to this, there could also be other unknown Bathynomus species in the tropical Western Atlantic.
It can be the case that researchers just noticed these giant pill bugs, but they might exist for a much longer time than anticipated. However, the good thing is that they live longer than the already existing other species.
