| THE YETI CRAB | RESEARCH QUESTION |
|---|---|
 | How do animals survive in different conditions, how are they adapted to their habitat? Photo Credit: Smithsonian Ocean https://ocean.si.edu/ocean-life/invertebrates/yeti-crab |
General Information:
| SCIENTIFIC NAME: | TYPE: | DIET: | GROUP | LIFESPAN | SIZE(metric) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| kiwa hirsuta | crustaceans | bacteria | cast | 10 to 20 years | 2 to 5 pounds 6 incises 15 cm |
Environment and Food
- Deep beneath the waters of Costa Rica
- live close to hydrothermal vents
- Hydrothermal vents form as a result of volcanic activity on the ocean floor
- Water seeps through cracks in the Earth’s crust, dissolving metals and minerals as it becomes super-heated from nearby magma.
- minerals provide nutrients to the bacteria
- swing of their arms, to mix up the water column and provide their homegrown bacteria with additional nutrients and oxygen
- black smokers (chimney-like vents) shoot up dark water that can reach temperatures of about 380 degrees Celsius and yeti crabs live right on top of these scorching vents.
- How are they affected by climate change
Predators
octopus
How many are their? Are they endangered?
Life cycle
eggs
ADAPTATIONS
- no eyes
- use hairs
- are actually flexible, hair-like spines called setae
- use hairs as tiny chemical and physical sensors
- help them find food or mates in the deep sea
- food
- hairy ‘arms’ capture all kinds of bacteria
- hair lives and grows on the crab
- to encourage growth, yeti crabs wave it’s arms back and forth in seeping vents
- the bacteria are the main source of food for the yeti crab.
The movable part of the claw fingers happens to have a rather sharp cutting edge on it. Scientists believe that this cutting edge is used to tear flesh from prey.
 |  |
Sources:
Fact Animal <https://factanimal.com/yeti-crab/>