The Giant Isopod is a giant isopod. The cockroach with the appearance of a pokemon

What exactly is a colossal isopod?

Isopods are one of the largest crustacean families, with almost 4,000 species identified. Except for a few terrestrial isopods known as "ball bugs" and "pill bugs," almost all are marine. But it's the Bathynomus giganteus, or big isopod, that we're interested in.

Where can you find huge isopods?

The huge isopod is one of the oldest species in the water (there are fossil records dating back to the dinosaurs), and it dwells in the freezing depths of the oceans where sunlight never reaches. It is thought that the Atlantic Ocean has the largest quantity of these animals.

What is the diet of the gigantic isopod?

The isopod, along with other creatures like crabs and certain fish, is a member of the seabed cleaning battalion, which feeds on all the animal remnants that fall to the seafloor. Although, if the hunger becomes severe and it cannot locate any animal remains to eat, it may transform into a predator, consuming sea cucumbers (holothurians) and certain sponges.

Because food is limited in the abyssal depths, the gigantic isopod may go months without feeding, crawling slowly to conserve energy, but when it does locate food, it gorges itself to the point of being unable to move.

What is the size of the huge isopod?

The epithet "giant isopod" comes from the fact that, whereas most isopods are just a few centimeters long, the gigantic isopod may grow to be half a meter long and weigh about two kilograms.

The huge isopod's curiosities

When they are threatened, they roll up like their terrestrial "brothers," the ball bugs, and create a ball that the assailant cannot open because to their protective plates.

What gives huge isopods their enormous size?

The gigantism of the abyssal waters, which is nothing more than a survival strategy extensively utilized by organisms of such depths (giant squid, gigantic crab...) to deal with the huge forces they must bear, is responsible for its enormous size. In other words, when huge bodies evolve, the pressure is better dispersed due to the increased body surface area, however in a tiny animal, all of the pressure is concentrated in a limited body region, causing considerable damage to the internal organs.

The gigantic isopod's conservation status

The IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature) has not assessed the conservation status of this species, so we don't know whether it's in danger of extinction or not. However, the fact that the IUCN has not yet studied the giant isopod suggests that it's not in any danger of extinction for the time being.

@heybody