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Researchers discover 'sea cockroach' species in Indonesia and it's pure nightmare fuel

Hello, police?

It's funny to think that we humans have explored more of outer space than our own oceans.

With the immense amount of species we have yet to discover and thanks to the advancements of modern sea exploration, we're able to find more and more weird creatures lurking in the depths of our waters.

In a 2018 expedition to survey uncharted waters off the southern coast of West Java, Indonesia, a team of researchers made some very peculiar findings.

Led by the Head of the National University of Singapore's (NUS) Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum (LKCNHM) Peter Ng, the team discovered and collected thousands of creatures spanning 63 different survey sites within two weeks.

The expedition was a collaboration with the Indonesian Institute of Sciences' (LIPI) Research Center for Oceanography (RCO).

The team made use of various deep-sea exploration tools like trawls, dredges, box corers, and multicorers in order to collect the various creatures they came across.

The average depth of exploration was around 800 meters, with their deepest depth sampled at 2,100 meters.

IMAGE: @nus_singapore / Instagram

Of their 'catch', the team managed to uncover more than 12,000 deep-sea marine creatures, made up of 800 different species from over 200 families of sponges, jellyfish, molluscs, starfish, urchins, worms, crabs, prawns, and fish.

The team also discovered more than 12 new species of marine life.

But fast forward to 2020, the team has officially confirmed the identification of another new species: Bathynomus raksasa.

At least it doesn't fly. IMAGE: LKCNHM / Facebook

No, this isn't some clever photo manipulation made to look like some nightmarish version of a cockroach.

It's actually a giant isopod, which usually can be found scavenging off the remains of dead marine animals at the bottom of the ocean.

Hello, Darkness, my old friend. IMAGE: Practical Fishkeeping

Giant isopods are often called 'sea cockroaches' because they bear a striking resemblance to the pests we have above the sea, lurking in the walls of our homes and the sewage systems of our cities.

They come in all shapes and sizes, growing to an average of 33 centimeters. But there are some that can even grow up to 50 centimeters, of which this new discovery by LKCNHM is a part of.

Cute? Maybe. Nope. Not cute. IMAGE: @lkcnhm / Instagram

Fittingly-named, the giant isopod can also survive for long periods of time without food, just like their cockroach brethren.

According to the Natural History Museum of London, the size of the giant isopod is attributed to the lack of natural predators in their deep-sea habitat, allowing them to grow larger than one would normally expect of other sea creatures.

The museum also notes that they have less meat than crabs, which makes them less appealing for any predators that do swing by.

Do you think giant isopods are cute? Or are they the stuff of nightmares?



Cover image sourced from @Ikcnhm / Instagram.