The Yeti Crab
Deep-sea explorers found a white crab covered in silky blond hair, living beside volcanic vents.
What was reported
In March 2005, scientists diving in the submersible Alvin near hydrothermal vents on the Pacific–Antarctic Ridge, about 1,500 km south of Easter Island, found a pale crab about 15 cm long with arms covered in long, silky, blond bristles. It was so unlike other crabs that it was placed in a new family.
It was named Kiwa hirsuta, after a Polynesian goddess of shellfish, and quickly nicknamed the yeti crab.
Explanations offered
It lives more than 2,000 metres down. The bristles are thought to farm bacteria, which feed on chemicals from the vents and which the crab may eat. Related yeti crabs have since been found at other vents, some waving their claws as if tending their bacteria.
- When
- Discovered in 2005
- Where
- South Pacific, south of Easter Island
- Witnesses
- Deep-sea scientists in the submersible Alvin
- Status
- Confirmed
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