typhlonectes:Newly discovered yeti crab swarms around Antarctic hydrothermal ventsby Sarah SchwartzA
typhlonectes:Newly discovered yeti crab swarms around Antarctic hydrothermal ventsby Sarah SchwartzA little yeti crab makes the most of a pretty rough neighborhood.Newly discovered Kiwa tyleri lives in the dark about 2,500 meters below the surface of the Southern Ocean around Antarctica, researchers in England report June 24 in PLOS ONE.K. tyleri’s stout body and spiny legs help it cling to the walls of hydrothermal vents, where it seeks a narrow comfort zone between superheated vent water and subzero seawater. K. tyleri seems to thrive there: Scientists found more than 700 yeti crabs crammed into one square meter.Like their mythical, hirsute namesake, yeti crab species have thick, hairlike bristles. K. tyleri’s bristles, on its limbs and belly, might help the crab collect the bacteria that it eats. (via: Science News)* Read more at Science Daily.photographs via: University of Southampton -- source link