Crustaceans
Silo of crabs, shrimp, lobsters and related species.
🌊 0–10935 m (known range of the family)
Japanese spider crab
Macrocheira kaempferi
Japanese spider crab
With legs that can span nearly four meters, this deep-sea Japanese crab holds the record for the largest living arthropod on Earth.
🌊 50–600 m
- ⚡ The largest leg-span of any arthropod on Earth, nearly 4 meters
- ⚡ An exceptional lifespan that may reach a century — rare among crustaceans
Hermit crab
Coenobita sp.
Hermit crab
Unable to build its own shell, it spends its life squatting in abandoned ones, trading up for a bigger one as it grows — sometimes in genuine collective exchange chains.
🌊 0–10 m
- ⚡ Can organise a shell-exchange chain among several individuals of different sizes
- ⚡ Some species live almost entirely on land while still depending on the ocean to reproduce
Yeti crab
Kiwa hirsuta
Yeti crab
Discovered only in 2005 near Easter Island, this deep-sea crab literally farms bacteria on its hairy claws to feed on them.
🌊 1500–2500 m
- ⚡ Literally farms bacteria on its own claws to feed on them
- ⚡ Can form extremely dense aggregations, several hundred individuals per square metre
Giant hadal amphipod
Hirondellea gigas
Giant hadal amphipod
A scavenging crustacean that thrives in the total darkness of the ocean's deepest point, able to digest even sunken wood thanks to a unique enzyme.
🌊 6800–10935 m
- ⚡ Lives down to nearly 10,935 m, one of the deepest-living animals known on Earth
- ⚡ Produces an enzyme (cellulase) able to digest sunken wood, an exceptional ability for a crustacean
Peacock mantis shrimp
Odontodactylus scyllarus
Peacock mantis shrimp
A reef crustacean able to strike with such speed and force that it can crack an aquarium's glass — one of the fastest movements in the animal kingdom.
🌊 0–40 m
- ⚡ One of the fastest, most powerful strikes in the animal kingdom (acceleration comparable to a bullet)
- ⚡ Unique vision able to perceive polarised light and ultraviolet