Adorable, bloodsucking sea parasite looks just like sushi! This is an isopod from the genus Rocinela. While many isopods…

Adorable, bloodsucking sea parasite looks just like sushi!

This is an isopod from the genus Rocinela. While many isopods eat dead or decaying animals, Rocinela isopods tend to be parasites that carve out cozy homes on the backs or among the internal organs of other sea creatures. This one may have taken the colour of its latest victim.

Fishers caught this peculiar 3-cm isopod near the coast of Japan at a depth of 800 to 1,200 meters.

- @science -