Research by Associate Professor Mitsuharu Yagi of the Faculty of Fisheries, Nagasaki University, Graduate School of Fisheries and Environmental Sciences, Shinshu University, and the University of the Ryukyus has revealed that a single meal of the deep-sea beetle can consume six years' worth of energy. Became.
According to Nagasaki University, the giant beetle is a marine crustacean belonging to the order Isopoda.It reaches a maximum length of 10-15 cm.It inhabits the ocean floor and continental shelf at depths of 150 to 600 meters south of central Honshu in Japan.
The research group placed large beetles in small capsules and examined the amount of dissolved oxygen in the capsules before and after feeding under different water temperatures of 6 to 15 degrees Celsius.They found that the beetles can consume up to 45% of their body weight in food, and that a 10-degree increase in water temperature increases their metabolic rate by 2.4 times.
Estimated from this information, when a beetle weighing 33 grams is in an environment with a water temperature of 10.5 degrees, the annual energy consumption is about 13 kilocalories.If you eat 45% of your body weight in whale blubber, you can get enough energy for about six years at rest.
The giant beetle, a close relative of the giant beetle, has been reported to have survived without food for five years while it was kept in an aquarium.The research group will continue to investigate and elucidate the ecology of the beetle.
Paper information:[Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers] Metabolic responses to food and temperature in deep-sea isopods, Bathynomus doederleini
