Crocodiles are eaten by strange sea creatures in Mexico

April 9, 2019

The moment has been seized by a group of university researchers who are studying the role of these fearsome animals in the ecosystem by being devoured by isopods.

A group of researchers belonging to the Marine Consortium of the University of Louisiana (United States) He placed three dead crocodiles of about 2.5 meters each in different parts of the Gulf of Mexico. The aim was to study "how materials from terrestrial environments enrich food webs in ocean environments".

The experiment was conducted by Craig McClain and Clifton Nunnally, in February of this year. The scientists sent a remotely operated vehicle at a depth of 2,000 meters. The recording showed how giant isopods in deep water quickly detected the bodies of reptiles and they fed them.

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Barely 24 hours were needed for these large crustaceans to find these crocodiles placed at the bottom of the sea. Using his powerful jaw, the isopods tore the hard skin of the reptile and devoured its flesh until they can barely move.

Isopods are animals that have a huge storage capacity for accumulated energySo, after a meal like this, they will not have to eat for months or even years.

As he explained Craig McClain in the interview given to the specialized portal Deep Sea Newsit was the first time they had used this method to "examine the role of crocodiles in biodiversity and the carbon cycle in deep oceans".

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The experiments carried out with crocodiles are of great help in the study of old food webs, since these animals are the closest representation of the great marine reptiles that lived millions of years ago on the planet Earth.

Video: Youtube LUMCON