New Crab Species, Ghostly White Octopus Discovered Living Near Deep-Sea Hydrothermal Vent

Posted on January 4, 2012

Creatures were discovered living over 2,000 meters beneath the surface of the Southern Ocean, near Antarctica. The creatures live next to volcanic vents. A new crab species, dubbed The Hoff, was one of the new discoveries. The crabs were found living on top of each other in large dense piles.

BBC News says these unusual crabs were named after actor David Hasselhoff because of their hairy chests. They will be given a normal scientific name later.

There was also a ghostly new species of octopus discovered. Many of the creatures are colorless due to the lack of sunlight. You can find the full research report here in PLoS Biology.

A robotic submersible took the video footage. Take a look:

OCEANS