Animals similar to Darth Vader found at the bottom of the seas and oceans

When entering the bathroom, some residentsfloors of apartment buildings see woodlice (Oniscidea) scattering in different directions. These crustacean creatures with antennae and seven pairs of legs adore moisture, therefore they settle in human dwellings and instill fear with their not very pleasant appearance. But did you know that at the great depths of the seas and oceans their giant copies live - isopods? They feed on the remains of fish that have sunk to the bottom.and marine mammals, and millions of years have passed since their appearance on our planet. They resemble aliens by their appearance and arouse genuine interest among scientists. Recently, at a depth of 1000 meters in the Sunda Strait (Indonesia), a new isopod species was discovered, which was given the name Bathynomus raksasa. Its appearance resembles the helmet of Darth Vader from the fictional universe of "Star Wars".

The animals found are said to closely resemble Darth Vader's helmet.

Isopods Are crustaceans that live in the cold depths of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. You can see their photos below.

Darth Vader's helmet in nature

A living organism new to science was toldon the official website of the Indonesian Institute of Sciences (LIPI). An expedition to the depths of the Sunda Strait, which connects the Indian Ocean with the Java Sea of ​​the Pacific Ocean, was carried out in 2018. However, those found at the bottom of the strait have been fully explored only recently. The most interesting inhabitant of the depths of the bay was the aforementioned isopod Bathynomus raksasa. According to scientists, its large-eyed head resembles Darth Vader's helmet. Look for yourself - personally, I don't see much similarity, do you?

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Giant isopod

Be that as it may, isopods are considered veryinteresting creatures for science with a rich history. They were first discovered in 1879 by the French zoologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards. It was he who described the isopod species Bathynomus giganteus, the male of which was caught by the crew of the ship "Blake" in 1877. the discovery of such an unusual creature aroused great interest in the whole society, because it was previously believed that at great depths few people are able to survive - there is a lot of pressure on the bodies of animals.

Bathynomus giganteus - the largest isopod in the world

At the moment, science knows about 15 speciesisopods The largest of them is considered the aforementioned Bathynomus giganteus, whose body length can reach 76 centimeters - if they had grown a little more, they would have been meter creatures! Almost all isopods feed on the remains of dead fish and marine mammals that fall to the bottom from above. But, if there are no falls, isopods may well eat slow inhabitants of the depths like sea cucumbers and sponges.

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New isopods Bathynomus raksasa only slightlyinferior in size to representatives of the largest species. The researchers managed to describe a male with a body length of 36 centimeters and a female, whose body length is 29 centimeters. According to the author of the scientific work, Conni Margaretha Sidabalok, the new species differs from other species in body size, head shape and characteristics of the lower body. In particular, we are talking about the appearance of the antennae on the head and the spines on the tail.

Top view of the isopod

An important scientific discovery

The new discovery is considered important at least fortwo reasons. First, the discovery of a new animal species is always a remarkable event in human history. Second, the new find proves Indonesia's rich biodiversity. This Asian country is home to a huge number of living organisms that are not found in other regions of our planet. The main thing now is to provide all these creatures with good living conditions without plastic waste, air pollution, and even more so environmental disasters. Unfortunately, at the moment, humanity is not coping with this task very well.

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This is not the only news of this kind in recent years.time. Regular readers of our site probably already know that recently Finnish scientists have discovered a new species of spiders, on the back of which the Joker's face from the 2019 film of the same name is depicted. It was named after actor and conservationist Joaquin Phoenix - read about his contribution to the fight for animal rights in this article.