The Bacterial Farming Yeti Crab
Discovered in 2005, this pale, hairy crab lives near toxic hydrothermal vents where superheated water blasts from the earth’s crust. The “fur” covering its claws isn’t hair at all but dense bacterial colonies that the crab farms and eats. It waves its claws in the mineral-rich water to give its bacterial garden optimal growing conditions, surviving in an environment that would kill most animals.