THE YETI CRAB

ADAPTATIONS

The first known species of Yeti Crab, Kiwa Hirsuta, was found near boiling hot hydrothermal vents, rougly 7,500 feet deep. How did it survive in such a harsh climate? How did it eat? Scientists noticed that the crab rhythmically waved its arms back and forth in the water, which baffled them. At first, it was thought of as a defense mechanism. But chemical analysis proved that it feasted on the bacteria that grew on its arms. Waving them back and forth wasn't a defense mechanism, but a way of washing nutrients on to the bacteria, like a fertilizer.

 

 

 

-Ellen Landrum