A Blond, Blind Crustacean Discovered in South Pacific
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PARIS — A team of American-led divers has discovered a new crustacean in the South Pacific that resembles a lobster and is covered with what looks like silky blond fur, French researchers said Tuesday.
Scientists said the animal, which they named Kiwa hirsuta, was so distinct from other species that they created a new family and genus for it.
The divers found it in waters 7,540 feet deep at a site 900 miles south of Easter Island last year, said Michel Segonzac of the French Institute for Sea Exploration.
The new crustacean is described in the journal of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris.
The animal is white and just shy of 6 inches long.
In what Segonzac described as a “surprising characteristic,” the animal’s pincers are covered with sinuous, hair-like strands.
It is also blind. The researchers found it had only “the vestige of a membrane” in place of eyes, Segonzac said.
The researchers said that although legions of new ocean species are discovered each year, it is quite rare to find one that merits a new family.
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