Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

This Bloodsucking Sea Parasite Just Happens to Look Exactly Like Delicious Sushi
https://www.sciencealert.com/either-a-sushi-or-a-bloodsucking-sea-parasite-is-on-display-at-the-fukushima-aquarium ^ | 6 OCTOBER 2021 | BRANDON SPECKTOR

Posted on 10/06/2021 6:20:33 AM PDT by Red Badger

Do not adjust your screen, and do not reach for the soy sauce. What you see before you is a real, living, breathing marine animal currently on display in a Japanese aquarium – a creature that just happens to look exactly like a piece of salmon sushi.

This snack of a sea creature is one of the most popular residents of Aquamarine Fukushima, a large aquarium on the east coast of Japan. In a Twitter post, aquarium staff identified the creature as an isopod – an order of long, flat, armor-plated crustaceans that are plentiful on land and in the sea.

The nigiri-shaped superstar likely belongs to the genus Rocinela, which includes more than 40 species, aquarium caretaker Mai Hibino told Vice.

未知の深海生物、白色のヒロメオキソコエビとウオノシラミ属の一種を展示を始めました。担当者はかわいくてしょうがないようで、「ほら、この角度いいでしょ!」とたくさん写真が送られてきますが、多くの職員の理解は得られず。。。#アクアマリンふくしま #深海生物 #親潮アイスボックス pic.twitter.com/sW12o3G2F4

— 【公式】アクアマリンふくしま (@aquamarinestaff) July 20, 2021

While many isopods eat dead or decaying animals, Rocinela isopods tend to be parasites that carve out cozy homes on the backs or among the internal organs of other sea creatures.

Most members of the genus appear dull and brown, but it's possible that Fukushima's famed sushi isopod may have taken more than just a meal from one of its former hosts, Hibino said.

"Because they're parasitic, we think maybe the color of the fish it was feeding on transferred [to the isopod]," Hibino told Vice.

Fishers caught the peculiar isopod in a net near the coastal town of Rausu on Hokkaido, Japan's northernmost island. The creature was captured at a depth of 2,600 to 4,000 feet (800 to 1,200 meters) and seemed to have a full belly upon discovery, Hibino said.

Sadly, there's no way of knowing exactly what the isopod fed on to achieve its raw-fish complexion. Measuring just 1 inch (3 centimeters) in length, the isopod could have easily stowed away on any number of larger sea creatures, the aquarium said.

This strangeness is par for the course for isopods; more than 10,000 species have been described to date, with diets, habitats, and sizes ranging wildly.

For instance, scientists writing in the journal ZooKeys in 2020 described the largest isopod ever detected: a puppy-size chonker whose sinister, domed shell earned it the nickname "Darth Vader of the seas". That's one crustacean we wouldn't want to invite to dinner.

Related content:

In photos: Spooky deep-sea creatures

In photos: The wonders of the deep sea

Photos: The freakiest-looking fish


TOPICS: Food; Outdoors; Pets/Animals; Weird Stuff
KEYWORDS: sushi

1 posted on 10/06/2021 6:20:33 AM PDT by Red Badger
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

I thought it would look like someone in Democrat leadership…


2 posted on 10/06/2021 6:22:03 AM PDT by gov_bean_ counter (Eccl10:2 - The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Would not care if it actually was use for sushi, still wouldn’t eat it.


3 posted on 10/06/2021 6:38:09 AM PDT by antidemoncrat (somRead more at: https://economicti)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger
The freakiest-looking fish

No doubt a product of the radiation that was spilled from the Fukushima nuclear plant after the tsunami.

That or a product of global warming.

Ask Scientific American which one it is.

4 posted on 10/06/2021 6:41:09 AM PDT by Bon of Babble (Rigged Elections have Consequences)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Taste like chicken.


5 posted on 10/06/2021 6:42:37 AM PDT by moovova (There will never be another fair presidential election in the USA.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

6 posted on 10/06/2021 6:44:32 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Also, why do the ends of cattail weeds look like corndogs?


7 posted on 10/06/2021 7:02:34 AM PDT by Bayard
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]


8 posted on 10/06/2021 7:14:53 AM PDT by Rio
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

Looks more like a pink cockroach than Sushi......


9 posted on 10/06/2021 7:28:04 AM PDT by nevergore (I have a terrible rash on my covfefe....)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Bon of Babble

Radiation effects was impetus for movies like Godzilla and Rodan.


10 posted on 10/06/2021 7:58:33 AM PDT by Getready (Wisdom is more valuable than gold and diamonds, and harder to find.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: Red Badger

I’d use it for fish bait.


11 posted on 10/06/2021 8:00:35 AM PDT by Rebelbase
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson