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.

What has 14 legs, lives at the bottom of the sea, and looks like Darth Vader? It's a newly discovered species of supergiant isopod, and should you happen to be in Vietnam sometime soon, you can buy one and eat it.

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.

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 team of scientists discovered a new species of giant isopod in the deep waters near Vietnam's Spratly Islands and named it Bathynomus vaderi, in honor of the iconic helmet worn by Darth Vader from Star Wars.

Deep in the waters off Vietnam’s coast, scientists have discovered a new species of giant isopod — a creature that looks like a massively oversized roly-poly or pill bug. Named Bathynomus vaderi after the iconic Star Wars villain,