Yeti crab

Depth: 3,650 m · Midnight Zone

The yeti crab lives deep down at hot springs on the seafloor and is named after the legendary snowman, the Yeti. Its claws are densely covered with pale hairs. On these hairs it farms bacteria that it eats as food. To help them grow, it waves its claws back and forth in the warm water.

For scientists

The yeti crab (Kiwa) colonizes hot hydrothermal vents and cold methane seeps in the deep sea. On the dense bristles (setae) of its claws and legs it farms chemosynthetic bacteria that draw energy from dissolved sulfur and methane compounds, and harvests them as its main food; by rhythmic waving it supplies the bacteria with fresh water. In the lightless deep it is nearly blind and colorless.

Source: Wikipedia

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