Scientists have discovered an unbelievably “supergiant” sea bug off the coast of Vietnam.
According to Express, the sea bug was found near the Spratly Islands in Vietnam, but it is expected that after further research, its presence will be confirmed in other parts of the South China Sea too.
The giant sea bug that can be up to 32.5 cm long and weighs over 1 kg has been named Bathynomus vaderidue due to its head’s striking resemblance with the Star Wars villain Darth Vader.
A new species of giant sea bug was discovered after Hanoi University staff took four giant isopods from Quy Nhơn City in Vietnam in March 2022. They sent two specimens to the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum at the National University of Singapore for identification.
Peter Ng and his team studied those giant sea bugs and found that the species were so far unknown.
The team of researchers in a study published in the journal ZooKeys wrote, “Today, some seafood markets in Hanoi, Hồ Chí Minh City, and Đà Nẵng City keep up to 30 individuals in their chilled water tanks for customers to buy. It is also common to see advertisements selling ‘sea bugs' on social networks by some seafood stores.
“Once they are purchased online, the stores will immediately ship the live animals in iceboxes to customers. Individuals weighing between 0.6–0.9 kg are the best sellers because the price is more affordable. Large specimens in excess of 2 kg are also sought after as they are less common, and their size makes for an impressive dish,” it further added.
The researchers noted that the discovery showed how poorly they knew about the deep-sea environment and urged understanding more about deep-sea biodiversity.
