Dark Side of the Ocean: New Species of Giant Sea Beetle Named After Darth Vader

Bathynomus vaderi belongs to a group known as "supergiants" and can reach lengths of 32.5 cm and weigh over a kilogram. So far, this new species has only been found around the Spratly Islands in Vietnam, but further research will likely confirm its occurrence in other parts of the South China Sea.

Giant isopods like Bathynomus vaderi are now considered expensive delicacies in Vietnam. Until 2017, local fishermen sold them exclusively as by-products at low prices. In recent years, media attention has captured the public's attention with this unusual seafood. Some claim it tastes even better than lobster, known as the "king of seafood."

These animals are commercially caught by trawlers operating in the deep waters off Biển Đông (the East Sea, or the Vietnamese part of the South China Sea) and in areas off the coast of Vietnam's south-central coastal provinces. Over the past five years, they have become common sightings in some seafood markets in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Đà Nẵng, where they are sold live. Some businesses and restaurants even promote the sale of these "sea bugs" online on social media platforms and share cooking instructions.

In March 2022, researchers from the University of Hanoi purchased four giant isopod specimens from Quy Nhơn and sent two of them for identification to Peter Ng of the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, National University of Singapore. Peter Ng has a very active crustacean laboratory in Singapore, working on the deep-sea fauna of many regions of Asia. He collaborated with Conni M. Sidabalok of the Indonesian National Agency for Research and Innovation, where he had previously described the Bathynomus species from southern Java. Nguyen Thanh Son, a crustacean expert from Vietnam National University, also joined the team. After examining the specimens, the trio realized in early 2023 that they had a new, as yet undescribed species and published their findings in the open-access journal ZooKeys.

The discovery of such an unusual species in Vietnam demonstrates once again how little we know about the deep sea environment. The fact that such a large species has remained undetected until now is a reminder that there are still countless creatures waiting to be discovered in Southeast Asian waters.

As humans increasingly exploit this habitat for fishing, oil and gas, and even mining, there's a pressing need to better understand deep-sea biodiversity. Sustainable fishing of giant isopods adds to the many challenges we face. And the first step in that process is understanding what lives there.

Translated by: Kaan SOYUER

Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2025/01/250114124926.htm

Image source: Huang, MC, and Kawai, T. (2025). A new species of supergiant Bathynomus A. Milne-Edwards, 1879 (Isopoda: Cirolanidae) from the Paracel Islands, South China Sea. Biodiversity Data Journal, 13, e144238.