Kiwa: The Yeti Lobster

deep-sea · hydrothermal vents · bizarre creatures · crustaceans

Hairy ocean crabs. Kiwa crabs are covered in silky, hair-like bristles that make them look fuzzy and wild, which is why scientists nicknamed them yeti lobsters after the legendary mountain creature.

Live in the deep. These crabs make their homes at hydrothermal vents and cold seeps on the ocean floor, in places so deep and dark that sunlight never reaches them.

Extreme living spaces. Hydrothermal vents are like underwater hot springs where super-heated water shoots out from cracks in the Earth's crust, creating one of the harshest environments on our planet.

Own special family. Kiwa crabs are so unique that scientists gave them their own family called Kiwaidae, making them quite different from regular crabs and lobsters we know.