具足蟲絕食5年死亡 吃過一條魚後對美食無愛

A giant isopod, a crustacean known as the 'scavenger of the deep,' has been found dead in its tank by keepers at an aquarium in Japan, after the creature refused to eat for more than five years.

日本一水族館的一隻大王具足蟲在絕食5年多以後死亡，飼養員在水族箱裏發現了它的屍體。大王具足蟲是一種甲殼類動物，被稱爲“深海清道夫”。

The animal, which looks like an oversized pill-bug, was declared dead at a feeding event at the Toba Aquarium in Japan on Friday February 14.

2月14日星期五，日本鳥羽水族館在嘗試餵養後，宣佈這隻外形好似超大號球潮蟲的大王具足蟲死亡。

The giant male isopod, called No. 1 to distinguish it from the nine other giant isopods kept at the Japanese aquarium, has not eaten since January 2009, when it ate a whole horse mackerel.

爲了區分水族館的另外9只巨型等足目動物，這隻雄性大王具足蟲被命名爲“1號”。2009年1月它吃了一條鰺魚，自那以後，這隻大王具足蟲一直拒絕進食。

No. 1's keeper Takeya Moritaki has been dumbfounded by the crustacean's hunger strike, claiming the deep-sea creature would at times pretend to eat by moving its mouth and front legs around the food to appease aquarium staff, however it never actually swallowed.

“1號”的絕食行爲讓飼養員則武竹谷十分不解，他說“1號” 有時候會動動嘴巴和前腿假裝在吃東西，糊弄水族館的飼養員，但實際上它從來沒有將食物吞下。

Mr Moritaki, was preparing the mackerel for No. 1's feed, however the giant isopod sat motionless as the bait was lowered in to the tank, according to Rocket News.

新聞網站Rocket News報道稱，在“1號” 死亡之前，則武竹谷正在爲它準備鯖魚肉，然而當鯖魚肉被放入水族箱後，“1號”卻一動不動。

Realising something was wrong, the aquarium staff lifted No. 1 out of the tank and declared it dead. At that point, the creature had starved itself for five years and 43 days.

意識到情況不妙之後，工作人員將“1號”撈出水族箱。隨後工作人員宣佈了它的死亡。至此 “1號”已經絕食了5年零43天。

It has been widely reported as the longest time any animal under observation has gone without food.

“1號”的絕食身亡被大量媒體報道，因爲這是迄今爲止有人類觀察的動物創造的時間最長絕食記錄。

The death of the giant isopod, has been confirmed by the aquarium and a dissection was performed, however no cause of death was found.

在宣佈“1號”死亡之後，鳥羽水族館對這隻巨型等足目動物進行了屍檢，但未能查明死亡原因。

Giant isopod No. 1 was taken to Toba Aquarium from the Gulf of Mexico in September 2007, measuring 29 cm and weighing 1 kg.

2007年9月，工作人員將“1號”從墨西哥灣帶到鳥羽水族館，當時它身長29釐米，體重1公斤。

A giant isopod is a crustacean related to prawns and crabs, which are thought to be abundant in cold, deep waters of the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans.

巨型等足目動物是一種甲殼類動物，與明蝦和螃蟹存在血緣關係。據悉，這種動物大量存在於大西洋、太平洋以及印度洋的冷深水區。