Nature & Environment

Captive giant isopod refuses to eat

By T.K. Randall
February 10, 2013 ·  67 comments

Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons Images of giant isopods have circulated the Internet for years and a lot of the time these have been dismissed as clever fakes. In truth however, the giant isopod is a very real creature indeed and lives 100m under the surface of the ocean where it scavenges for food. While the isopods can go for quite some time without eating anything, the specimen kept at the Toba Aquarium has been taking this to the extreme.

Keeper Takaya Moritaki has been attempting to get the creature to eat for four years without success and cannot explain what the problem is. "I just want it to eat something somehow," he says. "It's weakened in this state." In a recent videotaped effort, Mr. Moritaki was seen giving the isopod some fish to eat but all it seemed to do was nibble at it before walking away.[!gad]Images of giant isopods have circulated the Internet for years and a lot of the time these have been dismissed as clever fakes. In truth however, the giant isopod is a very real creature indeed and lives 100m under the surface of the ocean where it scavenges for food. While the isopods can go for quite some time without eating anything, the specimen kept at the Toba Aquarium has been taking this to the extreme.

Keeper Takaya Moritaki has been attempting to get the creature to eat for four years without success and cannot explain what the problem is. "I just want it to eat something somehow," he says. "It's weakened in this state." In a recent videotaped effort, Mr. Moritaki was seen giving the isopod some fish to eat but all it seemed to do was nibble at it before walking away.


Source: Rocket News 24 | Comments (67)

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