Census of Marine Life & the Yeti Crab

This new species of crab was discovered off the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge in the South Pacific Ocean.

It was named Kiwa hirsuta kiwa, after the goddess of shellfish in Polynesian mythology, but has become known as the “yeti crab” because of its hairy appearance.

With 120,000 species now on-line, the Census of Marine Life considers itself half-way to its goal of checking and validating the 230,000 marine species currently known to science. Once completed, the World Register of Marine Species, called WoRMS, will be the first source for descriptions on all marine life.

The World Register of Marine Life finds itself in good company. In fact both the Register and the Census of Marine Life are working with similar projects like Species2000, The Encyclopedia of Life, and ZooBank to create places for researchers and educators to find authenticated and up-to-date information on the globe’s total species.

From Mongabay.com: Read more

See also:
www.marinespecies.org
www.coml.org