1/n If you noticed by Twitter profile pic then you know about my fascination with #giantisopods

2/n You know those cute little roly-poly bugs you found under rocks as a kid? You poke at them and they curl up into a little ball? Magnify that times 1000, take away the functional role of the eyes, head to the deep-sea and you’ve got the Giant Isopod, Bathynomus giganteus!

3/n Bathynomus giganteus was first discovered in fishermen’s nets in the Gulf of Mexico and was described as the type species of the genus by Alphonse Milne Edwards in 1879.

4/n It is the largest known isopod, reaching lengths up to 50cm. That is about the length of small dog or cat! Most isopods only reach lengths between 1-5cm.

5/n They have a strong and thick exoskeleton and take on the general shape of your typical “flattened” isopod.

6/n B. giganteus has 7 pairs of pereopods, or legs, which are uniramous (meaning only one pair of legs per segment). The first pair of pereopods is modified into maxillipeds (literally “mouth feets”) that help move food to its 4 sets of jaws modified for cutting and tearing.

7/n Interestingly, they have a compound eye with over 3,500 facets

8/n It isn’t clear whether these eyes have any function, but they do not respond to the visible spectrum and have only low sensitivity to the ultraviolet spectrum at the 360nm wavelength.

9/n It is suggested that they rely mainly on chemoreception and possibly mechanoreception or to find prey items.

10/n B. giganteus is a scavenger. Specimens in aquaria have survived months to years without food and it speculated. Giant Isopods also have large quantities of lipid reserves in the hepatopancreas and fat bodies.

11/n Eggs of the Giant Isopod are also giant, up to 13mm diameter and are brooded in a brood pouch above the stomach and internal organs. Females do not feed when brooding and seem to bury themselves in the sediment to reduce energy expenditure during brooding.

12/n Juveniles of Bathynomus giganteus are called mancas and reach length up to 6cm.