A huge type of crustacean, 10 times bigger than other specimens, has been found 7 kilometers under the water off the New Zealand coast.
The creature, called a supergiant, is a type of amphipod that usually measures 2–3 cm long.
But the recently discovered specimens, found in the Kermadec Trench, measure up to 34cm long, the BBC reports.
They were found using a large metal trap that had been equipped with a specially modified camera.
Seven supergiants were caught in the trap, and nine were captured on camera.
The team from the University of Aberdeen in Scotland and the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research in New Zealand were excited by the find.
“It’s a bit like finding a foot-long cockroach,” Alan Jamieson, from the University of Aberdeen, said.
“I stopped and thought, ‘What on Earth was that?’ This amphipod was far bigger than I ever thought possible.”
Amphipods are small but active crustaceans that live in large numbers at the bottom of ocean trenches.
Large species measuring 10cm long have previously been found in the Antarctic.
