Bathynomus giganteus

You know those cute little roly-poly bugs you found under rocks as a kid? You poke at them and they curl up into a little ball? Well, magnify that times 1000, take away the functional role of the eyes, head to the deep-sea and you've got the Giant Isopod, Bathynomus giganteus! Bathynomus giganteus was first discovered in fishermen's nets in the Gulf of Mexico and was described as the type species of the genus by Alphonse Milne Edwards in 1879.It is the largest known isopod, reaching lengths up to 50cm. That is about the length of small dog or cat!