Science

‘Supergiant’ Crustacean 20 Times Larger Than Usual Surprise Scientists

Amphipods, a type of crustacean whose body is divided into 13 segments, are generally less than 10 millimeters — 0.39 inch — in length. Now, imagine the surprise scientists had when they  found some 20 times that size.

Scientists at the University of Aberdeen have announced finding amphipods so big that drawing the analogy between humans and the Incredible Hulk isn’t even a big enough comparison. They’re so giant, they are being called “supergiant”.

Giant Amphipods Found Off Coast of New Zealand

"Supergiant" Amphipod (Photo: University of Aberdeen Oceanlab)

OurAmazingPlanet reports that the “insects of the sea” were found in a deep sea trench off the coast of New Zealand:

“We pulled up the trap, and lying among the fish were these absolutely massive amphipods, and there was no inkling whatsoever that these things should be there,” said Alan Jamieson, a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, and leader of the expedition that turned up the fantastical creatures in November 2011.

[...]

“They actually don’t feel real,” Jamieson told OurAmazingPlanet. “They feel like plastic toys. They have a waxy texture to them.”

OurAmazingPlanet notes that the largest of the amphipods found was nearly a foot long.

Giant Amphipods Found Off Coast of New Zealand

(Photo: University of Aberdeen Oceanlab)

This isn’t the first time amphipods of this size had been found though. OurAmazingPlanet reports that supergiant amphipods were found in the 1980s off the coast of the Hawaiian Islands but little was seen of them since then. When Jamieson’s team returned to the same spot in New Zealand a week later, the crustaceans were gone. On the University of Aberdeen’s Oceanlab website, Jamieson also notes that they had searched the trench twice before without ever seeing the animals.

The team is now trying to figure out if the supergiants they caught are the same as those seen near Hawaii in the 1980s. They will also try to see if there was a selective advantage that caused them to grow so large.

[H/T Gizmodo]

Comments (71)

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  • glnwat
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 1:48pm

    Loooks like escapes from Distric 9.

    Report Post »  
  • Pat Alexander
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 1:05pm

    Ma, Junior done caught him some big shrimp.

    Get the cocktail sauce…

    Report Post »  
    • Rowgue
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 2:17pm

      Lol. The guy in the picture actually looks a lot like one of the guys on “Big Shrimpin”.

      Report Post »  
    • johnpaulkuchtajr
      Posted on February 5, 2012 at 11:02pm

      You have to be a coonass, don’t you? The only thing that you didn’t ask is whether or not they were in season.

      They tatste better if you catch them out of season.

      Report Post »  
  • gr8t2bfree
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 1:02pm

    How long do you think it will take to blame their size on global warming?

    Report Post » gr8t2bfree  
    • nomark
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 6:26pm

      This is a real dilemma for Al Gore. On the one hand he could use them to further his agenda on global warming… but on the other hand he could use them to further his belt line… Poor guy. He must be in such a quandary tonight…

      Report Post »  
    • ICEDRAGONNITE
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 9:11pm

      Tomorrow!

      Report Post » ICEDRAGONNITE  
  • garylee123
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 12:25pm

    Dang!!! And I thought scientists knew everything ( well, maybe that’s just a consensus)

    Report Post »  
  • felix
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 12:18pm

    there that big because the same trench is home to U.F.O.’s , no doubt about it !!!

    Report Post »  
  • GrayPanther
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 11:51am

    First thought; Boil and melt some butter! On second thought YOU try some and if you don’t die, I will have some! Then I wonder if they can be “farm raised” in Louisiana? Imagine, shrimp LARGER than lobsters! A whole new market that Obama does not need to stimulate! Oh, sorry. didn’t mean to spoil your appetite.

    Report Post » GrayPanther  
    • ishka4me
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 12:11pm

      My first thought was how they would taste, a little garlic salt paprika with dash of chili powder grilled and some fresh lemon squeezed over them with a tallie of my favorite ferment hops and barley

      Report Post »  
    • WeekendAtBernankes
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 12:18pm

      I say we take off ant nuke it from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.

      Report Post » WeekendAtBernankes  
    • WeekendAtBernankes
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 12:18pm

      (Cause what if it’s just one of the babies)

      Report Post » WeekendAtBernankes  
  • StopWhiningAlready
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 10:02am

    Very cool, but if I see a news report featuring two miniature Japanese twin girls singing in unison whist looking toward the ocean, I’m definitely running in the opposite direction.

    Report Post » StopWhiningAlready  
    • Stevsea
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 10:20am

      Now that’s funny. I wonder how many people here know where that comes from.

      Report Post » Stevsea  
    • neesershea
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 10:28am

      LOL (: The twin girls were called Peanuts!

      Report Post »  
    • UrsaMajor
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 11:54am

      You should be just if as long as you don’t try to kidnap them or anything.

      Report Post »  
    • UrsaMajor
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 11:55am

      And whatever you do… LEAVE THE EGG ALONE!!!

      Report Post »  
    • Steverino
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 12:09pm

      STOPWHINING-
      Ok. I give. What are you referring to?
      Steve

      Report Post »  
    • joehanx2
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 3:05pm

      mothra

      Report Post »  
    • joehanx2
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 3:07pm

      mothra in one of the godzilla movies

      Report Post »  
  • South Philly Boy
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 9:51am

    Can they be EATEN

    Report Post » South Philly Boy  
  • Silat
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 9:43am

    Those are some nice shrimps…lol! Ebonics

    Report Post »  
  • JimmyP
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 9:13am

    You ba$turds, you killed Kenny! Where’s PETA now that we need them? Where’s the Sierra Club demanding we stop overharvesting this endangered spieces? Where’s Obama promising us that the last thing he thinks of before he falls asleep and the first thing he thinks of when he wakes up every morning are those poor little giant shrimp? And poor little Sasha, his sad little daughter with a Russian name who asked him while he was shaving this morning what he was going to do to save the giant shrimps and the polar bears and the honey bees…

    Wonder if Barry Hussain Obama will send a team of crack Washingtoon experts to the bottom of the ocean to help the poor giant shrimp just like he sent his team to Detroit? (Does anyine remember this?) Perhaps they should be called “The Lost Patrol”.

    Report Post » JimmyP  
    • Xyskalla
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 9:40am

      This happened in New Zealand. There’s no political advantage for their usual overreaction.

      Report Post »  
    • scook84
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 10:46am

      It kinda explains why James Cameron is moving to NZ.

      Report Post »  
  • DD313
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 7:59am

    It’s the “popplers” from Futurama. We’ll be in real trouble when their parents show up!

    Report Post » DD313  
  • grannyrecipe
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 6:58am

    Dudes, they feel plastic because they are! My son threw these toys over the side of our boat about two years ago when we were fishing there.

    Report Post » grannyrecipe  
    • amd1044
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 9:51am

      Did you tell them that he dropped the largest collection of these come-to-life toys 12 miles east of westernmost tip of the Bermuda Triangle? They better launch their next expedition there.

      Report Post »  
  • Pro-Palin
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 3:25am

    Red lobster , olive garden, Longhorn and I think somebody else wont fly an american flag inside or out of their establisments so the heck with them if thats what i remember i know I wrote each of them that they lost a cx.

    Report Post » Pro-Palin  
    • C. Schwehr
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 10:41am

      Already wrote them and told ‘em they lost a customer after they bent over backwards to kiss Barry’s butt.

      Report Post »  
  • jespasinthru
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 3:18am

    That creature looks yummy. I’m getting hungry just looking at it.

    Report Post » jespasinthru  
  • RoBoTech
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 2:20am

    They are trying to find out everything but the most imporatant.
    DO THEY TASTE GOOD?
    Or are they nasty and poisonous?

    Report Post »  
  • whatthecrazy
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 12:59am

    I know Red Lobster sounds good right now. daaannnngg

    Report Post »  
    • TXPilot
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 1:13am

      These creatures need to be examined in a detailed, scientific process, involving cocktail sauce….mmmm mmmmm

      Report Post » TXPilot  
  • BUSHMASTER 223
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 12:28am

    MMMMMMM Hey ma get the kettle boiling! Now we know what the effect of all that spilled crude was. Fertilizer for shrimp.

    Report Post » BUSHMASTER 223  
  • last frontier
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 12:19am

    Giant sand flea.

    Report Post » last frontier  
    • jespasinthru
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 3:23am

      Shrimp, lobsters and crabs are just the oceanic version of scavenger bugs anyway. They eat dead things at the bottom of the sea. But I don’t care, they’re still tasty.

      Report Post » jespasinthru  
  • democritusoilder267
    Posted on February 4, 2012 at 12:14am

    I bet these babies will be served at every seafood restaurant soon. Evolution is scary but awesome!

    Report Post » democritusoilder267  
  • banjarmon
    Posted on February 3, 2012 at 11:32pm

    I’ll take a whole fry with hushpuppies!!!

    Report Post » banjarmon  
  • jnfomo
    Posted on February 3, 2012 at 11:30pm

    Amazing! I wonder how they got so big, and where they migrate.

    Report Post »  
  • cyntro
    Posted on February 3, 2012 at 11:29pm

    Sure hope those weren’t the last four…

    Report Post »  
  • Baracalypse
    Posted on February 3, 2012 at 11:23pm

    I wonder who was the first guy ever to find a shrimp, or a lobster and say… “yip, I’d eat it”.

    Report Post » Baracalypse  
    • jespasinthru
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 3:28am

      Probably the same guy who said “I‘m gonna eat that round white thing that just came out of that bird’s butt.”

      Report Post » jespasinthru  
    • NEMATIC
      Posted on February 4, 2012 at 11:35am

      How about the first to try a raw oyster.

      Report Post » NEMATIC  
    • Your Name Here
      Posted on February 5, 2012 at 8:33am

      It had to be a Cajun. They eat anything.

      Report Post » Your Name Here  
  • sbenard
    Posted on February 3, 2012 at 11:15pm

    They look like big shrimp to me. Mmmmm! Nummy!

    Report Post » sbenard  
  • justangry
    Posted on February 3, 2012 at 11:10pm

    Just great. I’m trying to lose weight, and all I can think about now is surf and turf.

    Report Post » justangry  
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