Take the humble woodlouse (or pillbug or slater or whatever you want to call them), that common inhabitant of gardens and damp houses that is pretty inoffensive and rolls up into a ball when poked. Imagine scaling the little guy up to the size where it is about as long as your forearm, and you’ve pretty much got a giant isopod (Bathynomus giganteus). I first came across a giant isopod during a zoology practical as a first year undergrad, and the pickled specimen that looked like a woodlouse who’d taken rather too many steroids left a lasting memory.
Giant isopods are another denizen of the deep sea, found on the sea floor from depths of 170 m down to around 2,000 m. Physically, they look remarkably like the terrestrial woodlouse, and even have the same ability to roll up into a ball for protection, but can reach lengths of up to 15 inches, compared to the 5 cm of the garden woodlouse. As the deep sea is a very food poor environment, giant isopods make do with whatever they can find to consume. They are carnivorous, primarily acting as scavengers on dead whales, fish and squid, although they may also be active predators of slow moving creatures such as sea cucumbers and worms. Giant isopods can survive long periods without food, whilst they are also known to gorge themselves completely when food is abundant, eating so much food to the extent that their ability to walk is inhibited. Just in case I haven’t got the scale of the beastie rammed home by now, check the photo below, and then imagine finding a couple of those in your damp bathroom.
TERRIFYING T____T
I’m betting there are 12ft cockroaches down there somewhere.
The idea of giant bugs is not a pleasant one. Nuke the ocean. Now before somebody brings something back!