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Deep-sea supergiant isopods last years without food by using a two-part survival system

  • June 5, 2026 at 3:00 PM
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Deep-sea supergiant isopods last years without food by using a two-part survival system
The supergiant bathynomid is a deep-sea isopod famous for surviving more than five years without food. Despite residing in an extremely low-nutrient habitat, these organisms exhibit pronounced body gigantism, a trait that requires substantial energy. This raises an energy paradox: How do these apparently energy-hungry isopods sustain their enormous size given the sporadic availability of food in the deep sea?

Originally published at Phys.org

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