Dec 24, 2007

Seafood Monster

The giant isopod has given me a new-found respect for rolly pollies. I've always gone out of my way to scoop up stray ones and deposit them somewhere warm and dank and decomposey. But now that I live in fear of their bigger, deep-sea-dwelling cousins, I'm extra considerate.

For you seafood enthusiasts, these critters can get to be 3 lbs, and they are often served in the Orient (like every other oddity seems to be). They have delicious white meat,very much like crab. For you horror film enthusiasts, here's your next monster.

Thanks for the photo, Danielle.

Photo source: Zoom Critic

12 comments:

BillyWitchDoctor said...

I think Hollywood's already hit this as a monster (Starship Troopers). Now I want to see a movie where a little kid befriends one of these magical creatures, a la The Water Horse (AKA E.T. Frees Willy In Loch Ness).

Arachnophile said...

OMG, It's does "kinda" resemble the BRAINbug, doesn't it. ;)

Anonymous said...

I think they look pretty darn cool. The only thing that freaks me out about them though are their eyes. Why do they always have that weird metallic shine to them!
Ya know, if you loo at the one in the picture, you can make out a face.
See the smooth head plate that's above the eyes and then narrows down inbetween them to create a "nose" then a little further down, it widens just a little bit to create the top part of a mouth that's smiling! And a little lower lip part right up under that... o_O
It looks so friendly that way, then I look at the rest of the body and all I can think about are the egg laying spider things from the Alien movies O_O

Anonymous said...

I used to play with "rollie pollies" when I was little, and collect grasshoppers... now, I can't even look at this thing without shuddering. Please tell me there are no giant sea-dwelling potato bugs, 'cuz then I'd really have to move off planet!

Jack Ruttan said...

I'd like a pet trilobite, please!

Unknown said...

Ah, yes. Deep sea isopods are among my favorite animals. Like Raging Wombat, they've given me new appreciation for their much smaller terrestrial counterparts. Really, sowbugs/woodlice/pill bugs look almost identical to aquatic isopods save for coloration and greatly-diminished (vestigial) caudal fins.

Anonymous said...

Does this mean that squished pill bugs could be used to make faux crab cakes? : ? I don't think I'm going to try it....

Sherry at SofN :P

Anonymous said...

They are crustaceans, but I never thought of eating one. Lobster, hmm?

Danielle Lea said...

This picture must have been taken AFTER it burst out of someone's chest, killing the host.

Aronwy said...

You might wanna look up mantis shrimp. They don't look *too* horrible from afar, but up close or on your plate... now that's a different story. And people *do* eat them.

Alexa Dawn Rose said...

It's got the same cranium as the aliens from Independence Day! I'm not going near that thing without Will Smith...

Crayfish123sage said...

umm... thats called a giant bizzarre dinosaur. I've heard of it and saw a picture.