It is a “supergiant” Bathynomus, and is being described as the “cockroach of the sea”.
It is the first ‘supergiant’ isopod species discovered by the researchers in the eastern Indian Ocean (Bantan, off the southern coast of West Java in Indonesia).
It measures around 50 centimetres (1.6 feet) in length, which is big for isopods, which normally do not grow beyond 33 cm (just over a foot).
Isopods that reach 50 cm are referred to as supergiants.
The giant isopods are distantly related to crabs, lobsters, and shrimps (which belong to the order of decapods), and are found in the cold depths of the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.
The only member of the isopod species that exceeds the raksasa in size is the Bathynomus giganteus, which is commonly found in the deep waters of the western Atlantic Ocean
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