...hmmmmm
Posted on 12/23/2008 3:47:08 PM PST by nickcarraway
The one foot long Giant Isopods live up to 6,000ft down on the seabed where there is no light.
In the pitch black and cold they survive by feasting on dead and decaying fish and other marine animals.
Isopods have been unchanged for 160 million years and the creatures are sure to be popular attractions when they go on display.
Experts at the UK's Sea Life Centre parks organised for nine of them to be transported from the US where they had been caught in lobster nets in the Atlantic.
Each was individually wrapped in wet hessian and newspaper before being packed into a box of ice.
They were then flown thousands of miles to London before being transported by truck to the Sea Life Centre in Weymouth, Dorset.
The nine Isopods - Bathynonomous giganteus in Latin - will spend time in quarantine before going on display in large dark tanks in Blackpool.
Special reflective glass will give the giant creepy crawlies the feeling they are deep at the bottom of the sea, while still allowing spectators to peer in.
Chris Brown, a marine biologist who is looking after the Isopods in Weymouth, said they have adjusted well to their new environment.
He said: "Isopods live on the seabed at great depths.
"There are lots of them down at the bottom of the sea but because of the depths they live at, they rarely turn up in fishing nets or lobster pots.
"They are scavengers which feed on the carcasses of dead fish and other creatures. They are doing a very good clean-up job.
(Excerpt) Read more at telegraph.co.uk ...
Bends is cause by dissolved nitrogen literally boiling out of your blood when you move from high to low pressure too fast. Water breathers such as these don’t have dissolved nitrogen in their blood, so they don’t get the bends.
They might.
...hmmmmm
Now I'm gonna have nightmares....
Super cool new pets ping
Ingredients
· 1 (1 to 1 1/4 pound) Giant Isopods
· Seafood Stuffing
· 1 ounce fresh crabmeat
· 1 to 2 tablespoons lemon juice
· Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
· Place a little water in a large pot and bring to a boil.
· Cut open the Giant Isopods by inserting your knife just underneath the head and the cutting down, splitting the belly (body and tail). Remove the "inards" (heart, guts, etc., but not meat). Steam the Giant Isopods for 7 to 10 minutes and then remove from the pot.
· Stuff the Seafood Stuffing in the Giant Isopods's opening and top with the crabmeat.
· Place the stuffed Giant Isopods, belly-side-up in a roasting pan. Add the lemon juice and a little water to the bottom of the pan to keep the Giant Isopods moist while cooking. Bake for 7 to 10 minutes, or just until the claws begin to split. Do not allow the Giant Isopods to dry out.
But they do look pretty similar.
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