Giant Isopod
Bathynomus giganteus
A football-sized pillbug patrols the ocean floor.
The giant isopod resembles a backyard pillbug scaled up to science-fiction size. It trundles across the deep seafloor searching for rare meals and falling leftovers.
Find this SeaPal in the card gallery
From field guide to game table
Bring this Giant Isopod home
See which ready-to-play decks feature this SeaPal. Try one in the simulator before you buy, or explore each full deck list.
- 1 copy
Ready-to-play deck
Darkness Shroud Deck
Includes 1 card featuring Giant Isopod.
Quick dive
Creature passport
- Home
- It lives on deep Atlantic and Indo-West Pacific seafloors about 170 to 2,100 meters down.
- Favorite foods
- It scavenges dead fish and other remains and may also catch slow animals.
- Size check
- Up to about 16 in (40 cm)—roughly football length
Tell-your-friends facts
Four wonderfully wild things
- 1
Giant isopods are distant marine cousins of pillbugs and sowbugs.
- 2
Fourteen walking legs carry the heavy armored body.
- 3
Two pairs of antennae taste and feel through dark water.
- 4
Its extra-large size is an example of deep-sea gigantism.
Ocean superpower
Built to be amazing
Overlapping armor plates protect it and curl around its softer underside.
Junior scientist tip
What should I look for?
Spot the wide segmented armor, many legs, and large reflective compound eyes.
Grown-up research links
We used trusted science organizations to check this profile.