![]() The blotchy colours of the shell further distinguished it from its greyer relatives. maxeyorum, the most distinctive feature is the number of pleotelson spines - 11 spines in B. "Superficial examination, using only pleotelson spines, could easily result in specimens of B. The two species have the same number of tail end spines called pleotelson.ĭr Huang said: "Bathynomus giganteus was discovered over a century ago, and more than 1,000 specimens have been studied with no suggestion until now of a second species with the same number of pleotelsonic spines. yucatanensis has more slender body proportions and is shorter in total length - and the pereopods or thoracic limbs are more slender." Held by the Enoshima Aquarium in Japan, the individual was subtly different than its relatives.ĭr Huang said: "Compared to B. yucatanensis is morphologically distinct from both B. Lead author Dr Ming-Chih Huang, of the National University of Tainan, Taiwan, said: "B. It was captured in a baited trap in 2017. maxeyorum was described in 2016.īut closer examination of the specimen revealed an array of unique features. giganteus - one of the largest found in 1879. It was initially thought to be a variation of B. ![]() It brings the total of known species of Bathonymus in the Gulf of Mexico to three. yucatanensis adds another addition to the isopod pantheon. Their strange features and unusual dimensions have spawned endless memes and a range of products celebrating their endearing weirdness - from plush toys to phone cases.ī. The largest reach 1ft 8inches.Īlthough they look scary, they are completely harmless to humans. They look quite similar - but for their extraordinary size. Their cousins range from crabs, shrimps and lobsters to woodlice, pillbugs and roly polys - which feed on decaying matter and are familiar to anyone who has lifted up a rock or dug around in the garden. The mysterious and primitive group that inhabits the benthic zone - the ocean's deepest reaches, rarely explored in person. They have gone viral on the internet - making them the most famous aquatic crustaceans since Sebastian of The Little Mermaid. The 20 species in the 'supergiant' Bathynomus genus grow to be more than 30 times larger. As diehard aquarists some of us have been really pushing the envelope of citizen science with great results so we can’t wait to see what the professionals with real time and resource budgets will produce.Most isopods measure less than 10 mm (0.4 in) in length. We can’t even begin to imagine all the wonderful ways that Blue Planet II will delight and amaze us, the way that the original series did. Even now, this week, there’s a live stream from NOAA of its ROVs scouring the ocean bottom of Samoa in the west Pacific Ocean, that we can all watch live! New technologies, not the least of which are deep diving twilight scientists, ROVs and submersibles, have brought us closer than ever before to life in the deep sea. The producers of Blue Planet II have been working diligently for years to document and highlight many of the exciting new discoveries we’ve made in the last decades. ![]() Narrated by the naturalist demigod Sir David Attenborough, the next installment of Blue Planet, Blue Planet II will be focused on various aspects of marine life. Now more than 15 years later the series is getting a nice reboot with seven new episodes to be released later this year. The series is the ocean and marine life companion to Planet Earth. The Blue Planet nature film series was one of the most luscious, eye-popping documentaries that had ever come to our home screen. ![]()
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