Kiwa hirsuta

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Kiwa Hirsuta
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Crustacea Class: Malacostraca Order: Decapoda Suborder: Pleocyemata Infraorder: Anomura Superfamily: Galatheoidea Family: Kiwaidae Macpherson, Jones & Segonzac, 2006 Genus: Kiwa Macpherson, Jones & Segonzac, 2006 Species: K. hirsuta
Binomial name
Kiwa hirsuta Macpherson, Jones & Segonzac, 2006

Kiwa hirsuta is a crustacean discovered in 2005 in the South Pacific Ocean.^[1] This decapod, which is approximately 15 cm (6 inches) long, is notable for the quantity of silky blond setae (resembling fur) covering its pereiopods (thoracic legs, including claws). Its discoverers dubbed it the "yeti lobster" or "yeti crab".^[2]

K. hirsuta was discovered in March 2005 by a group organized by Robert Vrijenhoek of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Monterey, California and Michel Segonzac of the Ifremer, using the submarine DSV Alvin, operating from RV Atlantis.^[3] The discovery was announced on the 7th of March, 2006. It was found 1,500 km (900 miles) south of Easter Island in the South Pacific, at a depth of 2,200 m (7,200 feet), living on hydrothermal vents along the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge.^[4] Based on both morphology and molecular data, the species was deemed to form a new genus and family (Kiwaidae). The animal has strongly reduced eyes that lack pigment, and is thought to be blind.

The 'hairy' pincers contain filamentous bacteria, which the creature may use to detoxify poisonous minerals from the water emitted by the hydrothermal vents where it lives. Alternatively, it may feed on bacteria, although it is generally thought to be a carnivore.^[2] Its diet also consists of green algae and small shrimp.

Although it is often referred to as the "furry lobster" outside the scientific literature,^[2] Kiwa hirsuta is not a true lobster but is more closely related to squat lobsters and hermit crabs. The term "furry lobster" is more commonly used for the family Synaxidae.

[edit] Etymology

Macpherson et al. named the genus Kiwa after "the goddess of the shellfish in the Polynesian mythology", although Kiwa is a male guardian of the sea in Maori mythology.^[5] Hirsuta means "hairy" in Latin.

[edit] In popular culture

Folk rock singer-songwriter Jonathan Coulton wrote a song entitled "Furry Old Lobster" as part of his "Thing-a-Week" project. It references not the furry lobster described in this article, but a kind of otter and its disappearance.^[6][7]

[edit] References