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Yeti Crab Facts Overview
| Habitat: | Deep-sea |
|---|---|
| Location: | South Pacific Ocean |
| Lifespan: | 10 – 20 years |
| Size: | 15 cm (6 inches) |
| Weight: | 2 – 5 pounds |
- What size is the yeti crab?
- Can you eat a yeti crab?
- Is the yeti crab extinct?
- Are yeti crabs really crabs?
- How deep do yeti crabs live?
- Why does the yeti crab have fur?
- How does the yeti crab reproduce?
- What does yeti crab eat?
- What is a yeti crab look like?
- Where does a yeti crab live?
- What ocean do yeti crabs live?
- Do crabs live at the bottom of the ocean?
- Do yeti crabs migrate?
- Do yeti crabs stink?
What size is the yeti crab?
Kiwa hirsuta is a crustacean discovered in 2006 in the South Pacific Ocean. This decapod, which is approximately 15 cm (5.9 in) long, is notable for the quantity of silky blond setae (resembling fur) covering its pereiopods (thoracic legs, including claws). Its discoverers dubbed it the "yeti lobster" or "yeti crab".
Can you eat a yeti crab?
As lobsters go, this one is not very appetizing -- it's white, it's covered with hair, and if you ate it, it would probably taste like rotten eggs.
Is the yeti crab extinct?
The researchers found that the crabs probably existed in large regions of mid-ocean ridge in the Eastern Pacific, but they are now extinct in those areas.
Are yeti crabs really crabs?
The yeti crab (Kiwa hirsuta ), an unusual, hairy crab with no eyes, was discovered in 2005 on a hydrothermal vent near Easter Island. It represents not only a new species but also a new genus—Kiwa, after the mythological Polynesian goddess of shellfish.
How deep do yeti crabs live?
Most of the crabs were living at depths of about 2,200 meters (7,200 feet) on recent lava flows and areas where warm water was seeping out of the sea floor.
Why does the yeti crab have fur?
Yeti crabs survive by growing their own food, in a sense. The distinctive "hair" on their bodies that gives them their name is scientifically known as setae, and serves as a "garden" where the yeti crabs' favorite food — bacteria — grow.
How does the yeti crab reproduce?
The crabs reproduce by releasing many larvae into the water so that a handful reach other vents and colonise them. ... The "Hoff" is a type of yeti crab, which is recognised for its hairs, or setae, along its claws and limbs.
What does yeti crab eat?
The crab eats the bacteria, using comb-like mouthparts to harvest them from its bristles (see a video of this on our YouTube Channel). The bacteria in K. puravida gardens are closely related to species that live in other cold seeps and hot hydrothermal vents all over the world.
What is a yeti crab look like?
A Yeti is a fabled creature with wild white fur, and these crustaceans have a striking white, fuzzy-looking external morphology, which resembles their beastly namesake. As they are crabs, this texture is certainly not fur, but instead bristles called "setae," which cover their "chelipeds" (claws).
Where does a yeti crab live?
The crustaceans were found near the Pacific-Antarctic ridge, south of Easter Island, along hydrothermal vents. At just less than six inches long, yeti crabs have beefy and compact bodies to help them adapt to the highly competitive life on the seafloor.
What ocean do yeti crabs live?
They live as far south as the waters of the South Ocean near Antarctica. Would you like to see Yeti crabs in their natural habitat? Hop into a submarine and head for the floor of the Pacific!
Do crabs live at the bottom of the ocean?
Crabs can live in estuaries or rocky shorelines. Some forms of crab live only in the subtidal zones, which means that they live in a habitat that is continuously submerged in an estuary system. Other crabs can live in the intertidal zone, which means that they live between the high-tide and low-tide marks.
Do yeti crabs migrate?
They spend most of their lives in the water heated by the vents, and the crabs are unable to move between vents due to the stark difference in water temperature. ... The Antarctic Yeti crab is trapped in its warm-water hydrothermal vent site by the cold polar waters of the surrounding deep-sea.
Do yeti crabs stink?
Yeti crabs live near hydrothermal vents, which emit abundant quantities of hydrogen sulfide. Hydrogen sulfide is the noxious gas a cracked egg leaks after reaching the end of its useful existence. It's the same substance that gives flatulence its disgusting odor.
