Not Oscar

Did you all see this? I am a few days behind this news bit but it is so good I must put it up. The sea is an amazing thing and although I won’t swim in it unless I can see (clearly) and touch the bottom I find it ever so fascinating.

Unlike the earth surfaces that are not under water, the sea continues to yield new species but the bucket load. Mostly in great deep dark cold places miles upon miles below.

There have been some great ones recently, I suppose due to the technology that is allowing humans to go deeper and find ways to keep the specimens alive or at least not destroyed by the time they reach the surface.

Behold, the new crustacean from the South Pacific, Kiwa hirsuta. It is white, and just under six inches long. What looks like fur covering the pincers is described as "sinuous, hair-like strands".












It was found in waters 7,540 feet deep, 900 miles south of Easter Island

What makes it sound even creepier is that it doesn't have eyes; merely a "vestige of a membrane" in what would normally be the eye area, and why would it down that deep?

What makes this little guy (or girl, or it) even more special is that it qualified for its own new family. The family has been named Kiwaida, from Kiwa, the goddess of crustaceans in Polynesian mythology.