[3] French zoologist Alphonse Milne-Edwards was the first[4] to describe the genus in 1879[5] after his colleague Alexander Agassiz collected a juvenile male B. giganteus from the Gulf of Mexico.

This was an exciting discovery for both scientists and the public, as at the time the idea of a lifeless or "azoic" deep ocean had only recently been refuted by the work of Sir Charles Wyville Thomson and others.

Giant isopods are of little interest to most commercial fisheries, but are infamous for attacking and destroying fish caught in trawls.

The uniramous thoracic legs or pereiopods are arranged in seven pairs, the first of which is modified into maxillipeds to manipulate and bring food to the four sets of jaws.

[10] Giant isopods have been recorded in the West Atlantic from the US state of Georgia to Brazil, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean.

[15] For example, during a survey of the deep-sea fauna of Exuma Sound in the Bahamas, B. giganteus was found to be common in water between 3.25 and 13 °C (37.8 and 55.4 °F), but more abundant towards the lower temperature.

[17][18] This lower temperature limit may explain their absence from temperate and frigid regions where seas at the depth preferred by Bathynomus often are colder.

They may also prey on slow-moving animals such as sea cucumbers, sponges, radiolarians, nematodes, and other zoobenthos, and perhaps even live fish.

One giant isopod was filmed attacking a larger dogfish shark in a deepwater trap by latching onto and eating its face.

[20][21] When a significant source of food is encountered, giant isopods gorge themselves to the point that they could barely move.

A study examining the digestive system contents of 1651 specimens of B. giganteus found that fish were most commonly eaten, followed by cephalopods and decapods, particularly carideans and galatheids.

[4] Giant isopods collected along the east coast of Australia by setting traps exhibit a variation in diversity with water depth.

[22] A study of the seasonal abundance of B. giganteus juveniles and adults suggests a peak in reproductive capacity in the spring and winter.

There have been occasional attempts at utilizing giant isopods as novelty food, such as prepared in East Asian cuisine like ramen.