Swimming crustacean eats unlikely food source in the deep ocean

Credit: Marley Parker, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The R/V Atlantis Team recovers the Alvin submersible from a deep dive on the Science Verification Expedition to the Puerto Rico Trench and Mid-Cayman Rise. Around the ship, patches of Sargassum algae can be seen.

« Swimming crustacean eats unlikely food source in the deep ocean

Credit: Daniel Hentz, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

The team combined morphological analysis, CT-scanning, DNA sequencing, and microbiological studies to show that this isopod is physiologically and behaviorally adapted to use sargassum as a food source.

« Swimming crustacean eats unlikely food source in the deep ocean

Credit: L. Peoples (UMT), NDSF Alvin Group, NSF, ©Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution

Researchers found hundreds of Sargassum fronds on the deep seafloor. Large piles of Sargassum collect around local features such as rocks, and animals like this deep-sea glass sponge.

« Swimming crustacean eats unlikely food source in the deep ocean

An isopod swims backward and upside down in the deep ocean using large paddle legs, carrying Sargassum algae that has sunk from the surface miles above.

« Swimming crustacean eats unlikely food source in the deep ocean

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