A team of scientists described and named a newly discovered crab that roams seas of Antarctica, hanging out at sea floor hot vents.
According to BBC News, authors of a study published in the journal PLOS One named the crab Kiwa tyleri, but they originally referred to it as "the Hoff" because, like David Hasselhoff, it had hair on its chest.
"The entire belly of the crab is covered in setae that are designed to brush up and harbour bacteria on a large scale," study lead author Sven Thatje, of the University of Southampton, told BBC News.
The "yeti crabs," as they are also called, keep to the hot vents simply because the water gets too cold away from them, but they will leave home to brood eggs.
"Crabs and lobsters are very rare in Antarctic/Southern Ocean waters because of the unusually low seawater temperatures," Thatje told Live Science. "A physiological limit to maintaining activities required for survival (ventilation, molting, mating) appears to exist at around 0.5 degrees C [32.9 degrees F].
"Females that move off-site do not feed; in fact, they starve."
The Kiwa species of crab is often referred to as the yeti crab for their white snowy color and their tendency to live in cold waters, where crabs are rare. Tyleri is the third yeti crab identified, following puravida and hirsute.
"Antarctic bottom-water is the coldest seawater you can have. Generally, there are very few crabs and lobsters in the Southern Ocean. And so Kiwa tyleri is essentially trapped in this very narrow envelope," Thatje told BBC News. "That is the fascinating aspect of this species."
