Comments on: Untold creatures of the deep!

Untold creatures of the deep!

furtive — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 11:44:29 -0800

The hydrothermal vents between Easter Island and Juan Fernandez are considered to be the Earth's fastest spreading center at approximately 150km per million years. Not only is this a geological hotspot, but a biological one too where at temperatures of up to 187c and depths of 2200m researchers have discovered amongst other things a blind hairy albino lobster. Ladies, gentlemen and MeFites I present to you Kiwa hirsute (aka The Yeti Crab).

By: Faint of Butt

Faint of Butt — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 11:49:49 -0800

Learning that the world contains a species of hairy lobster (It's a lobster! With hair!) has made me immensely happy. I don't know why. Please don't try to psychoanalyze me.

By: hincandenza

hincandenza — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 11:53:55 -0800

Hairy clams I can wrap my mind around... but lobster?!?

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 11:55:14 -0800

Please don't try to psychoanalyze me. Your mom had hair. Thus, we can infer you were pinched on the penis by a lobster as a child. From this day forward, you only sing songs about lobsters and what you imagine are "lobster noises." The child is polymorphously perverse!

By: liam

liam — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 11:56:21 -0800

It measures about 15 centimetres from tip to toe, or about the size of a salad plate, said Michel Segonzac of the French Institute of Research for the Study and Exploitation of the Sea. I'm glad to see that science in France is still conducted in dining units.

By: furtive

furtive — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 11:57:55 -0800

Faint of Butt: I had the same reaction! My guess is that the hairs make up for the lack of eyesight (well duh, there's no light down there) in aiding the Yeti Crab to detect it's surroundings.

By: nebulawindphone

nebulawindphone — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 11:57:55 -0800

If only we were still living in the 1800s. I'd love to see the fashionable rich wearing lobsterskin coats.

By: ryoshu

ryoshu — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:00:01 -0800

This is neat and all, but how is it with drawn butter?

By: Gator

Gator — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:08:09 -0800

I saw this on cnn.com this morning, and I knew it'd make its way over here sooner or later. I'm surprised and pleased to see that it came with additional interesting links about the habitat of this new Muppet-like critter.

By: horsewithnoname

horsewithnoname — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:09:06 -0800

I wonder if they scream when they're boiled.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:14:58 -0800

That thing is simply awesome. It's almost huggable.

By: NoMich

NoMich — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:19:22 -0800

I wish they would've named it after Johnny and Edgar Winter,

By: MetalDog

MetalDog — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:20:36 -0800

How did enough lobsters find their way to this spot, that a new species could develop? Are there blind lobsters just wandering aimlessly around the Pacific? I'm baffled.

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:22:02 -0800

It only takes two. And then their offspring need to stick around...

By: booksandlibretti

booksandlibretti — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:22:09 -0800

Holy fucking shit. They really are related to spiders. I used to think they were just nuggets of deliciousness, but now you won't get me to ever touch another with a ten-foot crab-cracker. That picture will give me nightmares for a week.

By: Lockjaw

Lockjaw — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:24:45 -0800

It can't be hair in the mammalian sense. It must be "cilia" or some such structure, yes? Still: how convenient that it's the size of a salad plate. One must appreciate nature's efficiency.

By: sonofsamiam

sonofsamiam — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:25:50 -0800

I'm just waiting for the Farrah Fawcett photoshop.

By: PenDevil

PenDevil — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:28:38 -0800

I hope no one tells the Bene Geserit.

By: Gator

Gator — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:33:51 -0800

I hope no one tells the Bene Geserit. Awesome. Heh, there's already a Wikipedia entry for it.

By: JeffK

JeffK — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:38:49 -0800

PenDevil, you totally stole my thunder. Kudos.

By: Cranberry

Cranberry — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:39:26 -0800

I await entreaties from the Kiwa Hirsute Aid Society to finance tiny waterproof white canes and courses in Braille.

By: furtive

furtive — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:39:29 -0800

Thanks Gator! Yeah, Wikipedia has Much Larger photo. Oh, and this part was interesting: 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.

By: Parannoyed

Parannoyed — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:42:50 -0800

Okay, at risk of damaging my Geekitude standings, I have to say I don't get the Bene Geserit reference, and I've read the first 3 books. ??

By: Gator

Gator — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:43:30 -0800

Did you see the Lynch movie?

By: kaseijin

kaseijin — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:44:21 -0800

OK... I've read Dune, but could somebody explain the Bene Geserit joke to me?

By: Parannoyed

Parannoyed — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:46:23 -0800

saw the movie, but don't remember any references to lobster...

By: nebulawindphone

nebulawindphone — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:46:58 -0800

Seeing how far underwater they live, they must have a high internal pressure. I imagine they'd explode if you tried to cook 'em. Which would be great fun, actually. Much better than your average lobster boil. They're like God's own MRE bombs.

By: Gator

Gator — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:53:03 -0800

Maybe this wasn't the actual intent of the joke, but when I saw the Bene Geserit reference I immediately thought of the Navigators as they were portrayed in the Lynch movie.

By: JeffK

JeffK — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:53:58 -0800

"Kiwa hirsute" reminded me of "Kwisatz Haderach"

By: cgs

cgs — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:54:09 -0800

two random questions: 1. when they caught said lobster w/ the submarine...if they just brought it in (via airlock or something), it would explode, right? cuz it is built to live at high pressure 2. could you boil it? if it lives next to these super hot vents, you might be giving it a cold bath...

By: JeffK

JeffK — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:54:38 -0800

It's a lot less funny when I explain it.

By: Gator

Gator — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:56:30 -0800

It's still funny to me, since I obviously missed the point the first time around. /blush

By: Cyrano

Cyrano — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 12:57:48 -0800

Allez Cuisine!

By: Smedleyman

Smedleyman — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 13:09:02 -0800

Yeti Crab was my pro-wrestling name.

By: Gator

Gator — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 13:10:18 -0800

Coming soon to a sockpuppet MeFi account near you!

By: pmbuko

pmbuko — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 13:16:42 -0800

This page will clue you in to the Dune joke.

By: Baby_Balrog

Baby_Balrog — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 13:23:59 -0800

Holy cow you people are nerdy.

By: sharpener

sharpener — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 13:59:18 -0800

I, for one, welcome our new yeti crab overlords.

By: sharpener

sharpener — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 13:59:59 -0800

sorry, forgot the </obligatory>

By: visit beautiful mount weather!

visit beautiful mount weather! — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 15:46:11 -0800

By: Balisong

Balisong — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 16:59:40 -0800

Looks tasty. I wonder if it turns bright orange when boiled, since it lives near hydrothermal vents.

By: joegester

joegester — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 17:00:47 -0800

If you bring it up slowly, it shouldn't explode. I get the impression (maybe falsely) that though the animals they pull up get a little messed up from the decompression scientists can bring most things up from the briney deep without destroying them.

By: ltracey

ltracey — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 17:25:01 -0800

Faint of Butt: You're not the only one. It was the only bright spot in a cruddy day. Yeti Crab = a ventful of happiness.

By: LarryC

LarryC — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 19:25:27 -0800

This is so great. It is 2006 and there are still marvelous new species to be discovered in the remote parts of the globe. (And a nicely constructed post, by the way!)

By: weapons-grade pandemonium

weapons-grade pandemonium — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 22:42:39 -0800

Yes, good post, furtive. Here's an interesting site with cool links.

By: rob511

rob511 — Wed, 08 Mar 2006 23:39:37 -0800

Yeticrab — it's what for Mugato's dinner. (Tyree and Yutan like it, too.)

By: baphomet

baphomet — Thu, 09 Mar 2006 09:55:04 -0800

Not only is this an interesting post, but it's also a great example of how to take a news story and flesh it out into a proper MetaFilter post, instead of being a one-link wonder. And it spawned a humorous and interesting discussion too! Nice work, furtive.