Darth Vader goes from galaxy to nature. The mythical Star Wars character has served as a source of inspiration to baptize a new kind of giant marine insect not described to date and has now received the name of Bathynomus Vaderi. Your last name (Vaderi) responds to the appearance of his head, which is similar to the distinctive helmet of the villain of the saga.
This particular villain is a giant isopod of the genre Bathynomusa type of crustacean that can reach thirty centimeters in length, although they are popularly known as “sea beds” in Vietnam.
The species described By researchers in the magazine Zookeys It belongs to a group known as “supergigent” insects, which reach lengths of 32.5 centimeters and weigh more than a kilo. It has been located near the Spratly Islands (Vietnam), but scientists do not rule out that they can be in other parts of the South China Sea.
Bathynomus Vaderi It stands out not only because of its size or weight, like the rest of these large crustaceans that have become a gastronomic claim, but for the striking shape of their head: rectangular and wide in the first instance, but that quickly brings down at the end, created a face that evokes Darth Vader.
A gastronomic delicacy
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The marketing of these animals has not stopped growing in the last five years. They usually fish drags that operate in several deep water areas of the sea of the Southern China and on the high seas of provinces in the coastal region of the Central-South of Vietnam. They are exhibited in seafood markets, such as Hanoi or Ho Chí Minh. Even some establishments and restaurants announce the sale of these “marine insects” on several social networks platforms.
This is how it arrived Vaderi at the hands of these scientists. In March 2022, the University of Hanoi staff bought four individuals of giant isopods in the city of Quy Nhơn and sent two of them to Peter NG, specialist at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum of the National University of Singapore for its Identification and analysis. They soon realized that they were facing a species not described to date (2023).
After identification and popular baptism such as Darth Vader, the authors of the research argue that many data of the data of the sea depthsbecause it is still paradoxical that such a large species has been able to remain hidden for so long. The first challenge is to know what species live in those waters; The second, to promote fishing and sustainable trade of giant isopods in the country.
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