Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Subphylum: Crustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Infraorder: Anomura
Family: Kiwaidae
Genus: Kiwa
Species: K. hirsuta
Life can survive in even the most extreme conditions. Deep in the oceans, around 7,500 feet deep, the yeti crab lives between two extremes: freezing cold and boiling hot — all while withstanding crushing amounts of pressure from the waters above. The sun never reaches that deep in the ocean, so it is incredibly dark and freezing cold. To survive, hundreds of yeti crabs gather around hydrothermal vents, which are cracks in the seafloor that allow molten rock from beneath the earth’s crust to emerge. The vents heat the water to as hot as 700°F, but the water doesn’t boil because of the huge amounts of pressure. The vents also spew out dissolved metals and chemicals from the earth’s molten interior. For many animals this mixture of pressure, heat, cold and chemicals would mean instant death, but for the yeti crab, it is a cozy home — as long as they don’t get too close to or too far from the vent! Finding life in these incredible environments makes scientists wonder about what could live on other worlds.
• Yeti crabs are completely white and blind because they live in complete darkness at the bottom of the ocean.
• They were first found around vents in the South Pacific.
• In 2006, a species was found around Costa Rica.
• They were later found around vents in the Southern Ocean around Antarctica.
• They are called yeti crabs because their big white arms are covered in bristles called setae that look like white hairs.
• These hairs allow the crabs to grow bacteria, which is the crab’s main food.
• They have thick bodies and thin spiny legs.
• The spiny legs allow them to grip onto the vents.
• The vents are very crowded, especially in Antarctica where up to 700 crabs have been recorded per square meter.
• They range from under an inch to 6 inches long.
• They are often referred to as “furry lobsters.”
• They wave their claws, potentially to help nutrients from the vents feed their bacteria.
• Males are larger than females.
