Booralana nickorum: A Cute New See-through Species from the Bahamas

Look at this cute little isopod just discovered in the Bahamas

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Lovely eyes ^_^

The species was given the scientific name Booralana nickoru and it was discovered at a depth of about 550 m (~ 1800 feet) in the Exuma Sound

Booralana nickorum sp. nov. is described from the deep-water slope of the Exuma Sound, The Bahamas, from depths of 540 to 560 metres

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Other than its big puppy eyes the species is notable for being transparent

"You can see its guts and things." said study co-author Nicholas Higgs, director of research and innovation at the Cape Eleuthera Institute.

Interestingly, despite being only recently described the species is roaming our planet for the past for 300 million years!

Description
As expected from an isopod, the species comes with a segmented body, covered by a hard exoskeleton. Proportionally to the body, the compound eyes are quite big, probably to allow the creature see better in the deep blue when hunting prey.

As aforementioned, the body is white and slightly translucent and individuals are about around 55 to 76 mm (2.2 to 3 inches) long.

This is the second Bathynomus species to be described. The other one is Bathynomus maxeyorum which was also recently described, in 2016.

Anyways, cute little fellas 😍

I just love isopods since I can remember myself, figured the discovery was worth a share!

Here are some links if you want to learn more about the creature:

• New Crustacean Discovered in Deep Waters of Bahamas
• Weird see-through crustacean with giant eyes discovered off the Bahamas
• Zootaxa

In other news, don't miss this amazing new footage capturing the dieing moments of a color changing of a female Labord's chameleon... A chaotic eruption of colors as if as if uttering her last words... What a way to go!

Ok friends, this is it for today. It's been a while since I made an animal themed post, hope you enjoyed it!

More Strange Animal Stuff
If you enjoyed this post here are some more amazing creatures I have recently blogged about:

• The Glowing Millipede
• The dead leaf moth
• The "flies eating bird shit "-like moth
• The Ant-like Mantis
• The Moth That Mimics Jumping Spiders
• The Iron Snail
• The Snake with the Googly Eyes
• The Dead Leaf Butterfly
• The Snail Tank
• That's one epic goat
• Why These Butterflies Drink Turtle Tears
• The penguin that takes ten thousand naps..every single day
• Real life face hugger
• The bacterium that poops gold
• The Cocktupus
• The Electric Clam

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