Oil field workers in the Gulf of Mexico just encountered a giant sea termite up to a meter long when they sent a submarine to explore the seabed at a depth of nearly 3 km.

It is a terrifying insect that lives at a depth of 2.6km below the sea surface. They are believed to be the most giant isopods ever found at this depth.

One interesting thing is, the above discovery was announced on April 1, so many people suspected this was a hoax. However, experts quickly noted the above finding.

Photo of a giant sea termite picked up by sailors

Mr. Craig McClain, assistant scientific director of the US National Center for Synthetic Evolution, in South Carolina, confirmed: “I have observed the photo and confirmed that it is completely true. It is capable of achieving of such size and absolutely not a joke on April 1st. The animal caught belongs to the isopod family, just like the wood termites in your garden. They are very common creatures in the Gulf of Mexico” .

The scientific name of the sea termite species mentioned above is Bathynomus , related to wood termites, but completely different.

While wood termites are only about 1.5cm long, their marine relatives are up to 1m long. They have 7 pairs of legs, the front two legs are used to collect and put food into their four jaws. This species of marine termite is a scavenger, its favorite food being dead whale meat, fish and shrimp.

The front legs are used to bring food into the mouth

According to scientists, this species of marine termite is very common in cold and deep waters in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. In addition, many crustaceans and other invertebrates also tend to be larger than their counterparts in shallow water.

To explain the above phenomenon, scientists have proposed many hypotheses about their evolution, possibly related to colder temperatures, higher pressure or scarcity of food sources…