Wednesday, March 08, 2006

Fear the Yeti Crab!

Well, really it's up to you if you want to fear it or not. If you click the picture, you'll see it roughly life-sized. A shrimp would fear it (by which I don't mean a small, sissified person; I mean an actual shrimp). From the redcoats over at the BBC:

Marine biologists have discovered a crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a lobster or crab covered in what looks like silky fur. Kiwa hirsuta is so distinct from other species that scientists have created a new taxonomic family for it.

A US-led team found the animal last year in waters 2,300m (7,540ft) deep at a site 1,500km (900 miles) south of Easter Island, an expert has claimed.

The "Yeti Crab", as it has been dubbed, is white and 15cm (5.9in) long, according to Michel Segonzac of the French Research Institute for Exploitation of the Sea (Ifremer).

In what he has described as a "surprising characteristic", the animal's pincers are covered with sinuous, hair-like strands. It seems to reside around some Pacific deep sea hydrothermal vents, which spew out fluids that are toxic to many animals.

New species! I love when that happens. Read the rest here.

2 comments:

JPX said...

I don't want to live in a world where this thing exists.

Octopunk said...

You don't, really. I doubt this thing could live without the extreme water pressure.

Then again, what's that on your neck?

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