Hmmm supergiant crustaceans

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Can anyone pass me some mayo?

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A huge crustacean has been found lurking 7km down in the waters off the coast of New Zealand.

The creature - called a supergiant - is a type of amphipod, which are normally around 2-3cm long.

But these beasts, discovered in the Kermadec Trench, were more than 10 times bigger: the largest found measured in at 34cm.

Alan Jamieson, from the University of Aberdeen's Oceanlab, said: "It's a bit like finding a foot-long cockroach."

"I stopped and thought: 'What on Earth was that?' This amphipod was far bigger than I ever thought possible."

The strange animals were found using a large metal trap, which had been equipped with a camera, housed in sapphire glass to keep it safe from the high pressures of the deep sea.

Seven specimens were caught in the trap and nine were captured on film by the team from the University of Aberdeen, in Scotland, and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (Niwa), in New Zealand.

The largest specimen brought back up to the ship measured 28cm in length, while the biggest spotted on camera was 34cm-long.

Amphipods have been found living in large numbers at the very bottom of ocean trenches, deep, narrow valleys in the sea floor that can plunge down to nearly 11km.

The creatures are small, but extremely active, and seem to thrive in this place where the pressure is one thousand times greater than at sea level.

The name "supergiant" was first coined after large specimens were caught in the 1980s off the coast of Hawaii.

They have been since been seen in the Antarctic, where they grew up to 10cm, but these are now dwarfed by this latest find.

Dr Ashley Rowden, from Niwa, said: "It just goes to show that the more you look, the more you find.

"For such a large and conspicuous animal to go unnoticed for so long is just testament to how little we know about life in New Zealand's most deep and unique habitat."

Over the last few years, scientists have been surprised by the life that is found in ocean trenches.

These deep-sea spots were once thought to be barren; too dark, cold and with too much pressure for anything to survive.

But researchers have found a wealth of life in the deepest of the deep.

As well as swarms of amphipods, they have uncovered shrimp-like creatures called isopods and snailfish that live 7,700m down.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16834913
 
With the rate they are growing ten years from now we'll have to go fishing for these things in giant Gundam style mechs.

Mark my words.
 
So if a fucking crustacean can get this big I can only imagine how already larger sea creatures would be if scaled to the difference in size from a normal crustacean and this one. Also, I'd love to see this things natural predator.
 
Snkfanatic said:
How can people eat seafood lol
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I've been saying this forever. People are bizarre when it comes to seafood. I look at that stuff and I cringe while reaching for the bug spray but everyone else starts salivating. It's wrong. I've seen grown women turn white at the sight of a spider or cockroach but then happily sit down to eat a lobster the size of their forearm. I'm like, "whaaa?!"

My sister-in-law tried to say I was hypocritical because I love steak and steak comes from cows. My reply was simple: "When they serve me a steak, I don't see the head of the cow staring back at me which I then have to proceed to dissect in order to get at the meat. Also, cows don't have mandibles and exoskeletons." That shut her up.
 
ckohler said:
I've been saying this forever. People are bizarre when it comes to seafood. I look at that stuff and I cringe while reaching for the bug spray but everyone else starts salivating. It's wrong. I've seen grown women turn white at the sight of a spider or cockroach but then happily sit down to eat a lobster the size of their forearm. I'm like, "whaaa?!"

My sister-in-law tried to say I was hypocritical because I love steak and steak comes from cows. My reply was simple: "When they serve me a steak, I don't see the head of the cow staring back at me which I then have to proceed to dissect in order to get at the meat." That shut her up.
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You can get seafood without the head attached. I know its hard to fathom. I just blew your mind.
 
ckohler said:
I've been saying this forever. People are bizarre when it comes to seafood. I look at that stuff and I cringe while reaching for the bug spray but everyone else starts salivating. It's wrong. I've seen grown women turn white at the sight of a spider or cockroach but then happily sit down to eat a lobster the size of their forearm. I'm like, "whaaa?!"

My sister-in-law tried to say I was hypocritical because I love steak and steak comes from cows. My reply was simple: "When they serve me a steak, I don't see the head of the cow staring back at me which I then have to proceed to dissect in order to get at the meat." That shut her up.
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None of this makes any sense. Screaming at a spider or cockroach is usually because they're alive and somewhere you don't expect them. Seeing a lobster on a plate is not unexpected.

You don't see much shellfood that's eaten alongside the shell it comes in. Lobster, prawns, mussels, escargot and oysters are the popular ones. Most will be gutted by a fishmonger like your steak is filleted by a butcher

Your main problem seems to be that they don't get that shellfish is basically just sea insects, and you're getting upset that people are eating sea insects.
 
ckohler said:
I've been saying this forever. People are bizarre when it comes to seafood. I look at that stuff and I cringe while reaching for the bug spray but everyone else starts salivating. It's wrong. I've seen grown women turn white at the sight of a spider or cockroach but then happily sit down to eat a lobster the size of their forearm. I'm like, "whaaa?!"

My sister-in-law tried to say I was hypocritical because I love steak and steak comes from cows. My reply was simple: "When they serve me a steak, I don't see the head of the cow staring back at me which I then have to proceed to dissect in order to get at the meat. Also, cows don't have mandibles and exoskeletons." That shut her up.
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So if something is looking at you, you don't want to put it near your mouth?
 
NO NO NO NO NO.

Isopods are the one thing that I'm deeply afraid of due to an incident I had with one when I was a kid. I caught a fish, it swam around in a bucket and died. I picked it up out of the bucket and a huge isopod crawled out from behind its eye. Never again. I can't even eat fish anymore.
 
backflip10019 said:
NO NO NO NO NO.

Isopods are the one thing that I'm deeply afraid of due to an incident I had with one when I was a kid. I caught a fish, it swam around in a bucket and died. I picked it up out of the bucket and a huge isopod crawled out from behind its eye. Never again. I can't even eat fish anymore.
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If you had eaten that fish, the isopod would have probably eaten you from the inside out, man.
 
daviyoung said:
None of this makes any sense. Screaming at a spider or cockroach is usually because they're alive and somewhere you don't expect them. Seeing a lobster on a plate is not unexpected.
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I disagree. It's not that it's alive but that it's a bug. Most people hate bugs, alive or dead. They find bugs disgusting to look at or touch. I agree, being "surprised" by a bug is what causes them to shout but what I'm really referring more to is the bizarre disconnect people have between a land bug and a sea bug where people seem perfectly fine with looking at and eating sea bugs. If someone can explain to me how a giant sea bug is any less revolting looking than a giant land bug, I'm listening. When I see a lobster, crab or shellfish I cringe at the sight. It's revolting just like all bugs are revolting.

And don't give me that "it's already prepared" argument. There are seafood places and grocery stores all over where people gladly point at the living lobster or crab they want to appear boiled on their plate.

You don't see much shellfood that's eaten alongside the shell it comes in. Lobster, prawns, mussels, escargot and oysters are the popular ones. Most will be gutted by a fishmonger like your steak is filleted by a butcher.
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I have NEVER butchered my own steak. Most people living in modern society have ever butchered their own meat. However, millions of ordinary people who would otherwise cringe at the idea of butchering a cow or dissecting a beetle will gladly look forward to do the following on a hot plate:

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I just don't understand where people enjoy ripping open the exoskeleton of a giant bug and eating the innards. Then again, there are parts of the world where people eat LAND bugs and love them but I'm referring to our culture where the majority of people despise land bugs but seem to love sea bugs. I can only assume people who enjoy lobster switch their brains off at seafood restaurants when thinking about what their eating.

Your main problem seems to be that they don't get that shellfish is basically just sea insects, and you're getting upset that people are eating sea insects.
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In this we heartily agree.
 
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