Bathynomus jamesi is widely distributed across different environments including the deep-sea and as such are a useful model for studying adaptation, migration, and speciation. They have larger body size than their shallow water relatives and have large stomachs and fat bodies presumably to store organic reserves. To adapt to the benthic environment, they adopt a burrowing behavior . They have developed an oversized stomach, which can take approximately 2/3 of the whole body cavity when it fills up with food. In addition, they are well known for their extremely long fasting state, which should be the longest record to date. Larger animals usually have greater absolute energy requirements.