image credit: sherdog.net
image credit: ashorner.comHabitat: South Pacific Ocean
This fuzzy little Yeti Crab was only just recently discovered back in 2005 during a research expedition lead by the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute using the submarine DSV Alvin.
The hairy critter was discovered hanging out around hydrothermal vents around 7,200 ft down below! It’s so crazy how these animals can survive at such amazing depths.
The “hairy” contain filamentous bacteria which the creature may use to detoxify poisonous minerals from the water emitted by the hydrothermal vents where it lives.
Cute and Useful! Coooool.
