Imagine being a zookeeper somewhere and the animal you are in charge of hasn't had a bowel movement in two years. You might be worried. For most critters, keepers would have tried a laxative before that much time passed, but it's really not all that unusual for the giant isopod, which has a very slow digestive process. On May 26, the caretakers of five giant isopods at the Toba Aquarium in Japan found fecal matter in the tank, for the first time since April of 2018. It was an occasion of joy.
Moreover, the feces was found to contain scales of a fish not served by the aquarium.
This means that the food which went into making this poop must have been consumed over seven years ago, before they came to the aquarium. While it isn’t clear exactly which isopod dropped the deuce, the finding is a breakthrough in the field of giant isopod regularity, and will hopefully trigger more detailed research into the subject.
Read more about the weird eating and pooping habits of giant isopods, and see some strange videos at SoraNews24. -via Metafilter
(Image credit: Eric Kilby)