The crabs—a family of crustaceans with long, shaggy arms that resemble the mythical yeti, or abominable snowman—were discovered only in 2005.

The first known species of these blind white crabs, Kiwa hirsuta, were found near boiling-hot hydrothermal vents roughly 7,500 feet (2,300 meters) deep. The vents are located on the floor of the South Pacific some 900 miles (1,500 kilometers) south of Easter Island (map). (See picture: "'Yeti Crab' Discovered in Deep Pacific.")

In 2006 scientists uncovered another species of yeti crab, K. puravida, living in cold, methane-seeping fissures about 3,300 feet (1,000 meters) deep near Costa Rica.

(Watch a video of the waving motion.)

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