Really Big Amphipod: 11 Inches Long

"Terrifying giant crustaceans found in deep sea"
Andrea Mustain, LiveScience, via FoxNews.com (February 3, 2012)

"Scientists on an expedition to sample a deep-sea trench got a surprise when their traps brought back seven giant crustaceans glimpsed only a handful of times in human history.

"The 'supergiant' amphipods are more than 20 times larger than their typical crustacean relatives, which are generally less than a half-inch (1 centimeter) long, and thrive in lakes and oceans around the world. They are sometimes called the 'insects of the sea.'

" 'We pulled up the trap, and lying among the fish were these absolutely massive amphipods, and there was no inkling whatsoever that these things should be there,' said Alan Jamieson, a lecturer at the University of Aberdeen in Scotland, and leader of the expedition that turned up the fantastical creatures in November 2011...."


(From Oceanlab, via FoxNews, used w/o permission.)
"An elusive supergiant amphipod, recently plucked from the deep sea. (Oceanlab, University of Aberdeen, UK)"

Oh, wow. That's a big bug. Critter. Amphipod.

It's big, for something with an exoskeleton. Even back in the good old days, when some dragonflies had a two-foot wingspan, that's not small.

Things like this were first discovered in 1899, the article says. That's when someone wrote about them, anyway. They haven't been seen much since: no great surprise, considering where these critters live.

Wow: that's a big critter.

Not-entirely-unrelated posts:

• "Hellgrammite: A Lake, a Character, and a - Thing"
  (February 27, 2011)
• "Really Big Dragonflies: Oxygen's What Does It"
  (November 3, 2010)
• "Barnacles, Brains, and Staying Awake"
  (February 13, 2010)
• "The Coconut Crab: No, It's Not From a Science Fiction Movie"
  (September 25, 2009)
• "Hurdia Victoria: Cambrian Supercritter of the Burgess Shale"
  (March 20, 2009)