scientists have found a lost world of
odd species living in waters near
Antarctica including swarms of a ghost
light crab that seemed to move only
sparingly the yet unnamed new species of
yeti crab has hairy undersides similar
to their brethren in warmer waters the
crabs are seen in the remotely obtained
video crawling over each other near deep
sea hydrothermal vents the mostly
colorless marine animals live in utter
darkness at depths of more than 78
hundred feet the find was made by a
consortium of researchers who published
their findings recently in the journal
PLoS Biology the male Yeti crabs are
larger than females and stay closest to
the vents – apparently feed on
communities of bacteria on their hair
lined bellies the females with eggs move
farther away into cooler water likely to
protect embryos lining their bellies
juveniles also are found in cooler water
one researcher says the temperature of
the water near the Antarctic vents is
comparable to water found in the warm
tropics other creatures near the vents
include barnacles that protrude from
rocks in a spire like fashion one spire
covered Rock was nicknamed the carwash
barnacle by researchers because it
looked like the spinning cylinders found
in a car wash they even spotted a
colorless octopus one of the rarest
finds on the team’s expedition it’s
about two feet long and was filmed
walking around on the sea floor
black smoke or chimneys in the cold
waters can spew mineral-rich water as
hot as 720 degrees Fahrenheit which
warms the surrounding water to livable
conditions for the newly found species
the minerals provide nourishment for the
bacteria on which the larger animals
feed the video was recorded in two
segments of the East Scotia Ridge about
two thousand miles east of the southern
tip of South America
it’s a place scientists have been
anxious to reach for a long time but
conditions and the limits of technology
have prevented exploration until now
odd species living in waters near
Antarctica including swarms of a ghost
light crab that seemed to move only
sparingly the yet unnamed new species of
yeti crab has hairy undersides similar
to their brethren in warmer waters the
crabs are seen in the remotely obtained
video crawling over each other near deep
sea hydrothermal vents the mostly
colorless marine animals live in utter
darkness at depths of more than 78
hundred feet the find was made by a
consortium of researchers who published
their findings recently in the journal
PLoS Biology the male Yeti crabs are
larger than females and stay closest to
the vents – apparently feed on
communities of bacteria on their hair
lined bellies the females with eggs move
farther away into cooler water likely to
protect embryos lining their bellies
juveniles also are found in cooler water
one researcher says the temperature of
the water near the Antarctic vents is
comparable to water found in the warm
tropics other creatures near the vents
include barnacles that protrude from
rocks in a spire like fashion one spire
covered Rock was nicknamed the carwash
barnacle by researchers because it
looked like the spinning cylinders found
in a car wash they even spotted a
colorless octopus one of the rarest
finds on the team’s expedition it’s
about two feet long and was filmed
walking around on the sea floor
black smoke or chimneys in the cold
waters can spew mineral-rich water as
hot as 720 degrees Fahrenheit which
warms the surrounding water to livable
conditions for the newly found species
the minerals provide nourishment for the
bacteria on which the larger animals
feed the video was recorded in two
segments of the East Scotia Ridge about
two thousand miles east of the southern
tip of South America
it’s a place scientists have been
anxious to reach for a long time but
conditions and the limits of technology
have prevented exploration until now
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