Yeti Crab Adaptations

Adaptations allow deep-sea creatures to survive in extreme environments. There are many different adaptations that allow an animal to survive. The three common adaptations consist of habitat, appearance, and diet. The Giant Squid, Zombie Worm, and the Yeti Crab utilized these adaptations to survive, and without them it would be difficult to nearly impossible to keep their species alive and flourishing. Each one of theses species is suited for its environment and survival tasks through its adaptations.

These three amphibious creatures live in various habitats. The Giant Squid prefers to live as far as three football fields under the ocean surface, “500 to 1,000 meters below” to be exact (Database). Its habitat consists of “continental shelves

The Zombie Worm is a small specimen that puzzles many oceanologists (Ennis). This is because the worms drill into whale bones for nutrients and a home; however, they do not have any physically aspects for drilling into the hard material (Ennis). They even “lack a mouth and gut,” but they do have “root-like structures” that allow the worms to attach themselves to the bones (Ennis). It lacks much difference from an earthworm. Meanwhile, the Yeti Crab is similar to the Zombie Worm with little characteristics contributing to their appearance. Just as most other crabs, their appearance consists of “claws,” however unlike most other crabs they are white and have hair on their chests and legs (Bliss). There appearances help them through their lifespan to do things that every living creature needs such as

The Zombie Worm use their “root-like structures” to latch onto whale bones; the only known source of sustenance (Ennis). The structures extract the dietary needs from the bone after an acid is released and the bone is dissolved (Ennis). The oils and fats are then digested by internal bacteria (Ennis). Though little to none is known about the Yeti Crab their food source is conjectured by scientists. They have come to the hypothesis that the crabs hairs “grow mineral bacteria” (Bliss). They have also theorized that the crabs “scoop up the bacteria” and consume it (Bliss). So it is like they are eating their own excrement. How and what these animals eat are all different and makes them the species that they are which provides the means for them to adapt and evolve to their