Giant ocean-dwelling isopods are on the menu in Vietnam. Scientists discovered a new species among specimens captured for the food market, and it's a doozy.

By James WoodfordA large crustacean that lives in the sea off Vietnam has been designated as a new species and named after Darth Vader.Bathynomus vaderi is a kind of isopod, a group that also includes woodlice.

B. vaderi is part of the genus of giant isopods called Bathynomus, a group that can reach over 30 centimeters in length and look like overgrown versions of our terrestrial pill bugs, or woodlice. This new-to-science species takes the supersizing one step further, however, belonging to a more exclusive group nicknamed the “supergiants”.

A purchase at an urban Vietnamese fish market turned out to be a whole new species of giant isopod –with a bit of a dark side. The foot-long crustacean has been named Bathynomus vaderi and sports a head that resembles the iconic helmet of Darth Vader from the Star Wars.

Its size is comparable to a rabbit or even a young cat, weighing over 1kg. First brought to the surface by deep sea trawlers, it has become an expensive delicacy in Vietnam where

Giant isopods of the genus Bathynomus, which can reach more than 30 cm in length, are known as bọ biển or "sea bugs" in Vietnam. For the first time, one such species was described from Vietnamese waters and named Bathynomus vaderi.