Taking a brief step back from the usual politics and hard tech...
A momentous event took place in Toba Aquarium on 26 May, when the keeper of the facility's five giant isopods discovered fecal matter in their tank. This would be the first time since April of 2018 that even a trace of poop had been found.
From the article, there were other, small interesting tidbits about the isopods who moved in seven years ago:
- The fecal material contained digested food that wasn't served in the aquarium meaning it was eaten at least seven years ago
- At least one of the isopods didn't eat for six years and lived
If there are any biologists, it would be interesting to hear your comments on these guys.
[#1 The linked story did not take a pass on bad puns. #2 (See what I did there?) Has a video of a Giant isopod eating the face off a shark. --Ed.]
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Giant Undersea Bug in Toba Aquarium Poops for First Time in Two Years
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The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way.
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(Score: 5, Funny) by Kell on Wednesday June 03 2020, @06:59AM
Things are really moving in the giant isopod fandom - I look forward to regular updates.
Scientists ask questions. Engineers solve problems.
(Score: 2, Troll) by stretch611 on Wednesday June 03 2020, @08:23AM (9 children)
I sure hope that the editors do not submit these articles regularly.
Now with 5 covid vaccine shots/boosters altering my DNA :P
(Score: 5, Insightful) by aiwarrior on Wednesday June 03 2020, @08:58AM (8 children)
I came here to say exactly the opposite. This is the kind of story which is fascinating and interesting, but would not get the attention it deserves because it is not very spectacular nor allows for longer life of your smartphone battery.
I am not a biologist so this insights are quite unique to SN.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by MostCynical on Wednesday June 03 2020, @12:06PM (1 child)
seeing the video of one of them leaping onto a shark's face and killing it was pretty spectacular.
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 3, Funny) by Oakenshield on Wednesday June 03 2020, @04:20PM
Did you see its T-Shirt? It said "Straight out of Klendathu!"
(Score: 3, Interesting) by coolgopher on Wednesday June 03 2020, @12:42PM
I too came here to say this was a shit story, but only because of the pun. Like you, I found it interesting.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by JoeMerchant on Wednesday June 03 2020, @01:04PM (2 children)
I applied for the job of "marine mammal tank cleaner" once upon a time. AKA pooper scooper for flipper. There were over 75 applicants who showed up for the 4 hour interview window.
🌻🌻 [google.com]
(Score: 3, Funny) by driverless on Wednesday June 03 2020, @01:22PM (1 child)
When my parents complained I never did anything I applied for and got the job of giant isopod tank cleaner. Didn't help, they still claimed I never did anything.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2020, @01:34PM
You should've started selling crack. Then they would have begged you to just stay home and do nothing.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2020, @06:47PM
I bet you'd change your tune if you only took a shit every 2-7 years.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2020, @07:04PM
and I don't mean the flushing of the toilet -- this clearly went over your head. ;-)
(Score: 2) by RamiK on Wednesday June 03 2020, @10:47AM
That would be a travesty... [dailymotion.com]
compiling...
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday June 03 2020, @02:32PM
To dogs and cats!
- The guy always emptying the litter box, walking the dog
(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday June 03 2020, @05:00PM (2 children)
So does it save up for a giant seven-year poop or is it just that the digestive process is so slow and efficient that there isn't much in the form of waste? Is there some kind of special poop-storage cause if it was just something that gets pushed along the bowl one would imagine (and I really don't want to) that it sort of comes out more regularly then once or twice per decade.
I recon it will be hard to do much science on it if there is only one or two poops per decade, unless they are monster sized. It will take a really long time if you want to gather enough data. Perhaps some kind of isopod laxative could help the scientific process along.
(Score: 2) by ElizabethGreene on Wednesday June 03 2020, @05:07PM (1 child)
Insufficient data to answer. These are really cool critters that we know very little about and do not adapt well to captivity. We knew they could go a more than 5 years [dailymail.co.uk] without eating. Hopefully we can learn something from this about what they like to eat.
(Score: 2) by looorg on Wednesday June 03 2020, @05:18PM
I did look up what was available at Wikipedia etc and it seems that they mostly eat fish, dead whales and whatever else just happen to be in their part of the ocean when they eventually get hungry. So I guess they do know sort of what they eat in the wild. There just wasn't much mentioned about the pooping or digestive process except that it was slow.
From an experimental point of view tho it should be fairly interesting if they only have to go so rarely since you can then perhaps control more of what goes in and what comes out so they know how it is processed.
(Score: 2) by DannyB on Wednesday June 03 2020, @05:12PM (1 child)
It says Common Joe writes . . .
Common Joe appears to be a link. But does not link to anything.
People today are educated enough to repeat what they are taught but not to question what they are taught.
(Score: 2) by Common Joe on Wednesday June 03 2020, @06:34PM
I don't think I've ever tried clicking on that link. Interesting. Well, I may be common, but I'm real.
(Score: 2) by linkdude64 on Wednesday June 03 2020, @11:16PM
I talk about poop with my coworkers all the time. This is great news I'll take to the lunch room tonight.