Yeti crab - a strange-looking creature endemic to severe Antarctica
Baku, May 28, AZERTAC
The Yeti crab is perhaps one of the strangest-looking animals you could ever see in your life.
Not only do they look strange, these crabs are exposed to some severe environments.
Discovered in 2010, the yeti crab (Kiwa hirsuta) lives in thermal vents near Antarctica that reach temperatures of up to 720 °F (380 °C). Their white coloring and strange hair patterns are thought to be adaptations to these extreme conditions.
The thermal vents, while ridiculously hot inside, are surrounded by freezing waters, forcing all the yeti crabs to cram themselves into a small area.
According to Encyclopedia Britannica, the female yeti crabs must venture into the dangerously cold waters to brood, as the thermal vents are too high in sulfur content for the crabs’ eggs to survive.
The mother yeti crab rarely survives the cold water, usually dying of starvation after her children hatch.
Moreover, the crabs have hair-like structures on their chest and arms, called setae, which attracts bacteria, their main diet.
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