An enormous deep-sea isopod family has been uncovered by scientists in the Gulf of Mexico. It serves as a new species alert. See the story for more information.
The ocean is home to about 1 million different species of animals. A nearly foot-long yellow isopod that lives at the ocean's bottom should be allowed to join them.
The new species was found in the Gulf of Mexico by a team of researchers from Taiwan, Japan, and Australia, who on Tuesday reported their results in the Journal of Natural History.
The newly discovered species, also known as B. yucatanensis, contributes to the expansion of the family of giant isopods, which are related to crabs, shrimp, and lobsters.
Isopodsare aquatic creatures with numerous limbs and antennae all linked to a single body. The new species is around 26 cm long and nearly 2,500% larger than the typical woodlouse
According to academics, the most recent revelation is in the low demand for fisheries in Taiwan and Japan. Mostly found in tropical and temperate deep-sea regions, the Bathonymus family.
There have only ever been two Bathonymus species identified in Taiwan, in 1894 and 1972. B. yucatanensis has now been added to that list.
When it was taken off the Yucatán Peninsula and the Gulf of Mexico, the species could be identified from others by its distinctive body proportions and colour,.
Despite being a recently identified species, B. giganteus, another Bathonymus species, was thought to be it. Researchers used the number of distinct spines to do a cursory analysis.
Researchers differentiated B. yucatanensis as a distinct species by comparing the length, colour, spines, and limbs of the species.
The body of B. yucatanensis is shorter and more slender than that of B. giganteus. Its a precious species as per researchers.