Giant isopod

These roly poly deep-sea creatures resemble their distant relatives, the tiny pill bugs found in many gardens. One difference between the giant isopod and your garden variety pill bug is its size — giant isopods can grow up to 16 inches in size. This colossal crustacean slowly roams the seafloor, feeding on dead animals. It is found in deep cold waters and can withstand depths of over 7,000 feet.

The deep-sea creature “Giant isopod” of the TOBA aquarium (Mie Prefecture) has not taken food for a very long time. This year it is entering the “Fasting” for the 6th year. It has a grotesque appearance like the alien. It is the continuous favorite of the visitor though it hardly moves in the display water tank. The video site exceeded three million views in about one year. Why it does not eat the food, and how it is alive? Ecology is wrapped in the mystery, and there are lot of deep-sea…

Bathynomus giganteus, 816 m Gulf of Mexico Image courtesy of the NOAA Office of Ocean Exploration and Research, Gulf of Mexico 2017. Identification from photograph by M. Wicksten and D. Amon.

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While we as humans continue to try (and fail) to live in peace and harmony, it is worth remembering that the world around us is a brutal, unforgiving place.

A truly amazing collection of some of the lesser-known inhabitants of this planet we call Earth.

Take a journey of discovery through the world’s largest ocean at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach, California.