Yeti Crabs

Yeti crabs are found in the deep sea, along the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge. They live in the deep sea next to hydrothermal vents which can get incredibly hot. These fellows live right next to the vents and use the hairs on their bodies to grow bacteria for sustenance. These bacteria are extremophiles, and thrive in high heat and salt environments, making the hairy lags of the yeti crab a perfect location of their colonies. And the crabs feed off of these cultures like they are eating a kabob.

In order to maintain their bacterial colonies, the crabs wave their limbs around in what looks like dancing motions. But actually they are bringing additional nutrients to the bacteria by stirring up the water column near cold seeps. At these spots, methane and hydrogen sulfide escape from the ocean floor, and the bacteria pick up electrons from the seeping chemicals, transferring them to oxygen.

The crabs appear eyeless, but they do have eyes, though they are thought to not be functional. One species of Yeti crab, dubbed Hoff crabs, have been discovered congregating around hydrothermal vents. At these locations, the temperature differences can be quite extreme. The gushing volcanically-heated water can reach 400C, while the water only a few feet away may be almost 0C. This makes the Hoff crab possibly the only animal that can survive in both extremely hot and cold environments.