The GIANT Marine Isopod

Q: What's 1 foot long, has 14 legs and reflective compound eyes?

A: The GIANT ISOPOD!

I really don't know where my current fascination with the giant marine isopod came from; one day the word just popped up in my head and stuck. I've heard of them before from the Internet but never thought much about them until recently. Now, apparently, I perseverate on that topic, and drive everyone crazy with wonderful, useless facts about isopods. Did you know that the Giant Isopod can roll itself into a ball? That it's compound eyes are extremely sensitive and exposure to sunlight permanently damages them? They live on the ocean floor all around the world! And guess what? It's related to the (much smaller) parasitic isopod which lives in the mouths of certain snappers and replaces the unlucky fish's tongue! (This is also worth Googling; just search "tongue eating parasite".) Why doesn't anyone want to hear about how the Giant Isopod has the largest invertebrate eggs in the world? Or how it incubates them in a pouch…?

But what makes giant isopods so interesting? I think it's partly the word…some words have a nice sound to them, inviting me to repeat them over and over. Words like diaphanous, haywire, mulligrubb and, my favorite, pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis*, are almost musical sounding and I say them at any opportunity. Isopod is one of those words…can't you imagine it as part of a song?

Another thing about isopods is their appearance. They're allegedly considered to be quite disgusting; I think they're cute in a strange way. They have those large eyes…and they look perpetually worried…and they have 14 feet! (Maybe they're more funny than cute; I don't know.)

In addition to those attributes, giant isopods are a good thing to perseverate on because there are lots of facts to collect about them. Anything encompassing a large amount of information is a good candidate for becoming a special interest**.

And now that I've explained the appeal of the Giant Isopod, I will sign off to go and search the Internet for instructions on how to make an isopod plushie. When and if I find them, I will post a link and anyone who has become newly fascinated with the Isopod can sew their very own.

Photo: Gwynzer

Disgusting? Or cute? This unlucky isopod came up attached to a deep-sea robot and is the largest ever measured at 2.5 feet!

*Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis is a respiratory ailment caused by tiny particles of silica dust. If you've studied root words, you can figure that out yourself and you can remember how to spell it.

**The word 'special interest', unlike it's cousin 'obsession', does not carry a negative connotation. My parents say I'm obsessed with Pokemon; I say it's one of my special interests.