“Marine Menace: The Discovery of a Giant Sea Bug Off Vietnam’s Shores!”

Isopods are minute organisms generally measuring below 2.5cm in length, yet researchers have recently identified a colossal one exceeding 10 times the typical size.

The most substantial of the newly discovered individuals of Bathynomus vaderi (B. vaderi) extends to approximately 32.5cm in length and weighs more than 1kg, as per a study published on Jan 14 in ZooKeys, a peer-reviewed scientific journal.

Scientists named the supergiant sea bug B. vaderi due to the striking likeness its head holds to the helmet donned by the Star Wars villain Darth Vader.

B. vaderi is an isopod, a category of crustacean recognized for its segmented bodies and seven pairs of limbs, which usually inhabit marine, freshwater, and terrestrial ecosystems.

The animal was discovered when researchers acquired crustaceans from fishermen and restaurants in Vietnam for investigative reasons.

It was caught by fishermen who were deep-sea trawling approximately 92.6km off the coast of Quy Nhon, a city located in central Vietnam.

As per scientists, B. vaderi possesses a distinctive characteristic compared to other known supergiant isopods: the final part of its hind legs tapers and curves slightly backward.

At present, there are merely 11 acknowledged supergiant and nine giant species of Bathynomus, with additional species yet to be officially described.

B. vaderi is merely the second documented supergiant isopod discovered in the South China Sea.

It consumes decomposing organic matter, playing a crucial role in the ocean’s deep-sea food web.

Dr Conni Sidabalok, a researcher at Indonesia’s National Research and Innovation Agency, remarked that B. vaderi’s significant size could provide it with a competitive advantage over other scavengers in the deep-sea ecosystem.

According to a CNN report on Jan 17, researchers noted that it was difficult to affirm the species as distinct due to its deep-water habitat, and the necessity for them to compare specimens across worldwide museum collections.

As the demand for the Bathynomus species escalates in Vietnam, where they are regarded as a delicacy with a taste similar to lobster, there are worries regarding overfishing. Prices for these organisms surged to as high as 2 million Vietnamese dong (S$108) in 2017, although they have since declined to around 1 million dong by early 2024, CNN reported.

Due to their slow breeding rate, producing only a few hundred eggs at once, B. vaderi could be susceptible to overexploitation, researchers stated.

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