| Bathylepeta wadatsumi | |
|---|---|
 | |
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Mollusca |
| Class: | Gastropoda |
| Subclass: | Patellogastropoda |
| Family: | Lepetidae |
| Genus: | Bathylepeta |
| Species: | B. wadatsumi |
| Binomial name | |
| Bathylepeta wadatsumi C. Chen, M. Tsuda & Ishitani, 2025 | |
Bathylepeta wadatsumi is a species of large, deep-sea true limpet, belonging to the family Lepetidae. [1]
The name is derived from the Japanese sea god Watatsumi, alluding to its very deep habitat. It is also a reference to the fish-man character "Large Monk" Wadatsumi from the manga series One Piece , "whose enormous body size is reminiscent of the large size that B. wadatsumi sp. nov. reaches for a deep-water patellogastropod.". [2]
It was discovered in the northwestern Pacific in 2025. [2]
The limpets can grow up to 4 cm across and were found living 5922 m below sea level, making them the deepest-recorded true limpets as of 2025. Phylogenetic analysis showed the species to be most closely related to Bathylepeta linseae of Antarctica. The species' discovery was published in Zoosystematics and Evolution , an open-access journal; the three authors of the paper worked at the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology. [1] [2]