Singapore: Researchers from Singapore have found a giant ‘sea cockroach’ at the bottom of the Indian Ocean. The creature was found during a marine survey conducted by Peter Ng of the National University of Singapore and colleagues, reports Daily Mail.
During the 14-day expedition to the deep sea, the team collected over 12,000 deep-sea creatures – of which the gigantic cockroach was one. It now been identified as belonging to a new species and given the name “Bathynomus raksasa”.
The giant Bathynomus is a deep sea crustacean that can grow up to 20 inches (50 cm) in size, making it the second-largest isopod species known to science. Though they have been nicknamed cockroaches of the sea, these 14-legged creatures are in fact more closely related to other marine species like crabs and shrimp.
The animal who has been named ‘Darth Vader’ because of its head and compound eyes lives on the ocean bed and survives by scavenging for the remains of dead marine animals. They are also capable of going long periods of time without any food and can grow up to 20 inches long.