Kiwaidae
| Kiwa | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Kiwa puravida | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Subphylum: | Crustacea |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Infraorder: | Anomura |
| Superfamily: | Chirostyloidea |
| Family: |
Kiwaidae Macpherson, Jones & Segonzac, 2006 |
| Genus: |
Kiwa Macpherson, Jones & Segonzac, 2006 |
| External identifiers for Kiwa | |
|---|---|
| Encyclopedia of Life | 44677 |
| ITIS | 699875 |
| NCBI | 496070 |
| WoRMS | 249750 |
| Also found in: | |
Kiwa is a genus of marine decapods living at deep-sea hydrothermal vents and cold seeps. The animals are commonly referred to as "yeti lobsters" or "yeti crabs", after the mythical yeti. The genus is placed in its own family, Kiwaidae, in the superfamily Chirostyloidea.
Two species have been described: Kiwa hirsuta discovered in 2005, and Kiwa puravida, discovered in 2006. A third species, known colloquially as the "Hoff crab", has been discovered on the East Scotia Ridge, and named Kiwa tyleri after its discoverer, Paul Tyler of Southampton University. although analysis of mitochondrial and nuclear rDNA markers confirm that it is genetically distinct from K. hirsuta. The same data suggest a divergence time for the two species of 12 million years ago. In 2011 a very similar morph to the one collected at the East Scotia Ridge was collected from vents on the South West Indian Ridge.
Based on the presence of sulphur-oxidising bacteria on the setae of both K. hirsuta and the new species, they may both feed on bacteria in addition to scavenging. For K. puravida, the bacteria have been identified and the feeding behaviour observed, as well as a cyclical rhythmic motion of the crab documented that is suspected to increase the flow of methane and sulfide, the bacterial food, towards the bacteria. The two sexes of the new species prefer different temperatures, with males seeming to prefer warmer water and egg-carrying females and juveniles preferring the coldest.
Macpherson et al. named the genus Kiwa after "the goddess of the shellfish in the Polynesian mythology", although Kiwa is a male guardian of the sea in Maori mythology.
Internal anatomy has been studied in Kiwa puravida.
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