Bathynomus yucatanensis

Bathynomus yucatanensis is a species of marine crustacean that was discovered in the Gulf of Mexico. It is a member of the order of Isopoda, similar to Bathynomus giganteus.

Bathynomus yucatanensis was jointly published as a new species of Bathynomus by Dr. Ming-Chih Huang, Associate Professor at the National University of Tainan Department of Biological Sciences and Technology, Taiwan (ROC), Dr. Tadashi Kawai, President of the International Association of Astacology, and Nile L. Bruce, Honorary Researcher of invertebrates at the Queensland Museum of Australia.

Discovery
Bathynomus yucatanensis was discovered in the Gulf of Mexico and was initially identified as another larger species, Bathynomus giganteus. The specimen was preserved at Japan’s Enoshima Aquarium, and was later acquired by Dr. Ming-Chih Huang of National University of Tainan’s Department of Biological Sciences and Technology for identification and comparison purposes. During the process, the two specimens were found to be morphologically distinctive from each other. The nucleotide sequences of two genes, the COI (cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1) and 16S rRNA, were used to compare the two specimens through molecular biotechnology. The specimen was later confirmed as a new species after being peer-reviewed and jointly-identified by Dr. Tadashi Kawai, President of the International Association of Astacology, and Nile L. Bruce, Honorary Researcher of invertebrates at the Queensland Museum of Australia. The specimen was named after the location of its original discovery, the Yucatán Peninsula of the Gulf of Mexico. This species is the third deep-sea isopod to be found in the Gulf of Mexico; the other two were the Bathynomus giganteus discovered in 1879, and the Bathynomus maxeyorum published in 2016. The researchers hypothesized that there may yet be further undiscovered species living in the Gulf of Mexico.

Morphological Features
Bathynomus yucatanensis is about 10 in in length and 5 in in width.