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A giant isopod collected off Puerto Rico decades ago and stored at the University of Tübingen in Germany has been formally identified as a new species: Bathynomus tuebingoborikensis. The dried female had been labeled Bathynomus giganteus. Researchers recognized the difference by re-examining its anatomy, using micro-CT scans to document details including its mouthparts—not by finding a newly collected animal or identifying it through DNA testing.

What was mislabeled?

The specimen is a dried female giant isopod, catalogued as holotype GPIT-PV-94341 in the University of Tübingen Paleontological Collection. Adolf Seilacher acquired it at a marine research station in Puerto Rico in the late 1980s and transferred it to Tübingen. The authors report that it was trapped at a depth of 500 meters. It was identified as B. giganteus, a classification that appeared consistent with that species’ reported range.

In their 2026 paper, Ingmar Werneburg and Benedikt Kästle formally described the specimen as B. tuebingoborikensis. The University of Tübingen-provided account reports its length as 32.2 centimeters (12.7 inches). The name combines Tübingen with Boríken, identified in the paper as the indigenous Taíno name for Puerto Rico. (Scientific Reports paper; University of Tübingen-provided account on Phys.org)

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How did researchers recognize a new species?

They compared the specimen’s physical features and documented its anatomy through conventional examination and micro-CT. The scan let them inspect structures in detail, including the mouthparts—a region the authors describe as often neglected in Bathynomus descriptions but useful for classifying cirolanid isopods.

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The diagnostic description covers features of the clypeus, mouthparts, uropods, pleotelson and legs. Among the recorded details are 11 spines on the pleotelson and 7 coupling hooks on the maxilliped. These are anatomical characters used in the species description, not counts of animals in a population. The authors’ analysis of this specimen is morphological; the paper does not establish the species through DNA testing. (Scientific Reports paper)

What does “found a new species” mean here?

The animal itself was collected decades ago. The discovery was recognizing that a preserved specimen already in a museum collection did not belong to the species name on its label, then formally describing and naming it as a distinct species. That distinction matters: a specimen can be physically known and stored for years before its scientific identity is revised.

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Werneburg and Kästle argue that misidentifications can conceal diversity in museum collections, and that revisiting historical material can bring undescribed species to light. The paper discusses differences in the numbers of described giant isopod species between the Indo-Pacific and the Americas; those are counts of named taxa, not a complete tally of actual diversity. The authors do not provide a figure for how often museum specimens are misidentified or how many undiscovered species remain.

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What evolutionary story do the authors propose?

The paper includes a preliminary phylogenetic analysis based on morphological characters and proposes a history in which Bathynomus originated in the Caribbean and later spread across ocean basins. This is the authors’ interpretation, not an established consensus. They describe the analyses as preliminary and say further work—including comparisons involving fossils—is needed to investigate questions such as convergent gigantism.

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In the University of Tübingen-provided account, co-author Ingmar Werneburg links the proposed dispersal to the region’s geological past: “At that time, the Isthmus of Panama was open, leaving a strait between North and South America, and the marine animals were able to spread westward, initially as far as Japan.” The account also quotes co-author Benedikt Kästle describing the 32.2-centimeter specimen as falling into the category of “colossogiants.” These quotations are from the institutional news account, not the scientific paper. (Phys.org account)

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When was the species formally described?

The paper was received on 8 April 2026, accepted on 25 August 2026 and published as the version of record on 8 October 2026 in Scientific Reports. Its title is “A new Caribbean species of the giant isopod genus Bathynomus (Crustacea, Isopoda, Cirolanidae) with notes on its evolutionary history.” (Scientific Reports paper)

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