A 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. It can reach lengths of over 30 centimetres and weights in excess of a kilogram.

So far, the new species has only been found by fishers trawling near the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea. Peter Ng at the National University of Singapore and his colleagues analysed four specimens obtained from fishmongers in Quy Nhơn in south-central Vietnam. The locals call them “sea bugs”.

Ng says the team chose the species’ name because of its resemblance to Darth Vader’s mask, but also because the creature is thought to live at depths of 800 to 1200 metres, where it is perpetually dark.

“I am the biggest Star Wars fan in the team, as it’s my vintage. The first movie was in 1977, in my youth, and it was cool,” says Ng. “But we all agree that the face of Bathynomus looks so much like Darth Vader that it just had to be named after the Sith Lord.”

The isopods have become a popular seafood delicacy in Vietnamese restaurants since 2017, and are said to be as tasty as lobster.

But little is known about their ecology or the impact on populations from trawling, says team member Conni Sidabalok at the National Research and Innovation Agency in Cibinong, Indonesia.

“The scale of harvesting is a matter for concern. It’s a challenge for all deep-sea species we fish,” she says. “We know so little about their biology, so we need more studies to evaluate how best to conserve and manage this resource.”

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