Hideous sea creature discovered off Vietnam named after Darth Vader
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A gigantic but hideous sea creature trawled from the deep waters off Vietnam has been named after Darth Vader due to its appearance.
Scientists made the shocking discovery after purchasing samples from a fish market.
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According to researchers, Bathynomus vaderi can grow to more than 30 cm in length and weigh at least a kilogram or more.
“I am the biggest Star Wars fan in the team, as it’s my vintage. The first movie was in 1977, in my youth, and it was cool,” Peter Ng, a marine biologist at the National University of Singapore, told New Scientist.
“But we all agree that the face of Bathynomus looks so much like Darth Vader that it just had to be named after the Sith Lord.”
Ng and his team published a research article in the journal ZooKeys this week that describes the creature found near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea as having distinctive physical features that are different from other supergiant isopods.
And it appears the hideous crustacean has been a seafood delicacy in Vietnam since 2017, with some describing the taste similar to lobster.
Researchers said the creatures, known locally as a “sea bug,” are brought back to shore in ice boxes and can be kept alive for several days if kept very cool.
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They are then sold to restaurants and either cooked on demand at smaller establishments or kept in large tanks at larger eateries.
When they were first brought ashore, Bathynomus vaderi was selling for 2 million Vietnamese Dong — well over $100 — per kilogram.
However, after increasing supply, prices for the sea creatures dropped to about 1.5 million Dong, or $85 per kilo.
“Today, some seafood markets in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City, and Da Nang City keep up to 30 individuals in their chilled water tanks for customers to buy,” researchers wrote. “It is also common to see advertisements selling ‘sea bugs’ on social network by some seafood stores.”
The local delicacy has also been exported to high end restaurants in other Asian nations.
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