Scientists discovered a terrifying new species of hairy crab in Western Australia

[Judi Lynn]

By Joshua Hawkins
July 3rd, 2022 at 2:03 PM



Scientists have identified a terrifying new species of hairy crab. The crab was first discovered by a family in Australia. It has since been identified as a never-before-seen species of sponge crab. These unique species of crab use their claws to cut off sponges and hair scraped from other sea creatures as a way to hide from dangerous predators.

Link to tweet

The new species of hairy crab was first spotted by a family along the beach close to the city of Denmark, Western Australia. The creature had washed up on shore. The creature appeared similar to other species of sponge crab found in the area. However, it had one discerning trait that those other crabs did not: the hair that covered it was fluffier than usual

Andrew Hosie, a curator from the Western Australian Museum, told Live Science that the “extreme fluffiness was a give-away” for the museum. He also noted that sponge crabs are often hairy, but that hair is usually more like velvet or felt. This new crab had a shaggy, very fluffy texture to its coat. You can see a picture of the crab the museum shared with Live Science in the outlet’s article.

After looking at the new species of hairy crab himself, Hosie reached out to a well-known retired marine biologist who has studied sponge crabs for decades, Colin McLay. McLay confirmed with Hosie that the specimen was indeed a new species of sponge crab. As such, it was named the Lamarckdromia beagle, after the HMS Beagle, a vessel that carried Charles Darwin to Australia in 1836.

More:
https://bgr.com/science/scientists-discovered-a-terrifying-new-species-of-hairy-crab-in-western-australia/

[Faux pas]

1. The

second picture look friendlier than the first one YIKES! The first one looks way too outer spacey for me

[Grokenstein]

2. "Terrifying"

[Laffy Kat]

3. Nature is so amazing.

And how cool would it be to discover a new species!

[qazplm135]

4. I, for one, welcome

our hairy crustacean overlords.