http://www.news.com.au/story/0,10117...44-401,00.html
A HAIRY, blonde, blind 'lobster' discovered in the South Pacific has confounded marine researchers, who have created an entirely new species group to accomodate it.
Divers from the French Institute for Sea Exploration discovered the crustacean, which looks like a lobster, in late 2005.
The animal's most surprising characteristic is a covering of what seems to be silky blonde fur, known as "setae", Associated Press reports.
The animal, which researchers have classified "Kiwa hirsuta", but also known amongst the team that discovered it as the "yeti crab" or "yeti lobster", is said to be so distinct from other species of crustacean that it has been given an entirely new family and genus.
The team of divers found the dinner-plate sized Kiwa in waters 1,500km south of Easter Island in 2005, according to AP, using the submersible DS Alvin, operating from the RV Atlantis.
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Divers found the white crustacean living in waters 2300 metres deep, living on hydrothermal vents along the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge. It is believed that the animal's hairy pincers, which contains filaments used to detoxify the mineral-rich water that bubbles up from the thermal vents, are some sort of nutrition aid.
The animal has no vision, possessing only the "vestige of a membrane", where its eyes would be, according to Michel Segonzac from the Institute.
Named 'Kiwaida' after the Polynesian goddess of crustaceans, Kiwa is 15cm long, with pincers that appear to be the same size as its body that are covered in silky, blonde hair, AP reports.
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