New hairy-legged, three-lipped, red-eyed sea spider species discovered

If the sight of a spider already makes your skin crawl, you might find the two sea spider species newly discovered by scientists even more unnerving.

Researchers in Canada discovered two previously unknown sea spider species during scuba dives, up to 18 meters (59 feet) deep, between September 2023 and August 2024 in the Salish Sea , which sits between the western Canadian province of British Columbia and the US state of Washington.

One of the species has long, curved spines that cover the spider’s lower legs, according to the study published Wednesday in the journal Organisms Diversity & Evolution . For that reason, it is named Callipallene pilosuspedes, with “pilosus” being the Latin for “hairy” and “pedes” meaning “feet.”

The creature, which has a slender trunk, also has red eyes, three lips at the opening of its triangular mouth and claws.

The species also sports “highly dexterous” ovigers — appendages that look like legs but are not used for walking — that “can function as grooming tools,” according to a statement Wednesday from the University of British Columbia (UBC), which conducted the study.

“Under a microscope, researchers observed the animal wrapping the appendages around its legs and using attached comb-like spines to clean itself,” the statement said.

In contrast to Callipallene pilosuspedes, the newly discovered Tanystylum kiixin species’ “egg-carrying limbs are much smaller and less dexterous, leaving the animal unable to groom itself effectively,” UBC said.

The “kiixin” in its name, pronounced “Kee-hin,” is derived from the sound of the waves crashing at the base of the site of an ancient indigenous village where the species was found, according to the study.

This spider sports an hourglass-shaped abdomen, black eyes and knob-like claws.

A parasite itself, the spider was “frequently” found to be “covered with tiny parasites of its own,” UBC added.

Overall, scientists have identified almost 1,400 species of sea spider, which originated around 500 million years ago, according to the study.

The marine arthropods can crawl on ocean floors or stroll on animals or plants, and some can even tread water . Their size can range from less than a centimeter (under 0.4 inches), to 70 centimeters (28 inches), UBC said.

The animals are not actually spiders but are related to spiders, as well as scorpions and horseshoe crabs, according to UBC. They have four trunk segments and four pairs of long legs, although they can have as many as 12 legs. Shallow-water species also often have four eyes.

Their mouths are usually larger than their bodies — and they use them to suck juices from soft-bodied invertebrates. Their digestive and reproductive systems branch to their legs, and males carry their eggs on a distinct pair of legs until they hatch.

Omid Mozaffari/Field Museum

Scientists look inside the ‘spider’ growing on the tip of a rare viper’s tail

The researchers of this study decided to describe shallow water sea spiders in the Salish Sea because only 17 species had been reliably documented there, despite the sea having rich marine biodiversity, according to the study.

“I was interested in how sea spiders are impacted by climate change and human disturbance, because marine invertebrates in the Salish Sea are particularly at-risk, and I couldn’t find anything,” lead study author and biologist Cormac Toler-Scott, who conducted the research as part of his master’s in zoology at UBC, said in the statement. “That’s largely because people don’t know much about what species exist here and what their lifestyle is.”

With the sea’s shoreline now “densely populated and rapidly developing,” the researchers noted that documenting the biodiversity in its waters is “an important step in identifying where conservation efforts will have the greatest impact” in addressing threats to the sea from human activity.

如果你一看到蜘蛛就感到毛骨悚然，那么科学家新发现的两种海蜘蛛可能会让你更加不安。

2023 年 9 月至 2024 年 8 月期间，加拿大研究人员在萨利什海（位于加拿大西部不列颠哥伦比亚省和美国华盛顿州之间）进行水肺潜水时，在最深达 18 米（59 英尺）的水域中发现了两种以前未知的海蜘蛛物种。

根据周三发表在《生物多样性与进化》杂志上的一项研究，其中一种蜘蛛的下肢覆盖着长而弯曲的棘刺。因此，它被命名为 Callipallene pilosuspedes，“pilosus”在拉丁语中意为“多毛的”，“pedes”意为“脚”。

这种生物有着细长的鼻子、红色的眼睛、三角形嘴巴开口处有三片嘴唇和爪子。

据进行这项研究的不列颠哥伦比亚大学 (UBC) 周三发表的声明称，该物种还拥有“高度灵巧”的护卵器——一种看起来像腿但不用于行走的附属器官——“可以​​作为梳理工具”。

声明称：“研究人员在显微镜下观察到，这种动物将附肢缠绕在腿上，并利用附着的梳状棘刺清洁自己。”

UBC表示，与Callipallene pilosuspedes相比，新发现的Tanystylum kiixin物种的“携带卵的肢体要小得多，也更不灵活，导致这种动物无法有效地梳理自己的毛发”。

根据研究，该物种名称中的“kiixin”（发音为“Kee-hin”）源自于发现该物种的古代土著村落遗址底部海浪拍打的声音。

这种蜘蛛腹部呈沙漏状，眼睛是黑色的，爪子呈球状。

UBC补充说，这种蜘蛛本身就是一种寄生虫，人们“经常”发现它“身上爬满了自己的微小寄生虫”。

根据这项研究，科学家们总共发现了近 1400 种海蜘蛛，它们起源于大约 5 亿年前。

据不列颠哥伦比亚大学称，这些海洋节肢动物可以在海底爬行，也可以在动物或植物上漫步，有些甚至可以在水中游动。它们的体型大小从不足1厘米（0.4英寸）到70厘米（28英寸）不等。

据不列颠哥伦比亚大学（UBC）称，这些动物实际上并非蜘蛛，但与蜘蛛、蝎子和鲎有亲缘关系。它们有四个躯干节和四对长腿，但也有多达十二条腿的种类。浅水物种通常还有四只眼睛。

它们的嘴通常比身体还大——它们用嘴吸食软体无脊椎动物的体液。它们的消化系统和生殖系统都延伸到腿部，雄性会用一对特殊的腿携带卵，直到幼虫孵化。

奥米德·莫扎法里/菲尔德博物馆

科学家们观察生长在一种罕见蝰蛇尾巴尖端的“蜘蛛”内部结构

该研究的研究人员决定描述萨利什海的浅水海蜘蛛，因为尽管该海域拥有丰富的海洋生物多样性，但只有 17 个物种在那里得到了可靠的记录。

“我一直很想了解气候变化和人类活动对海蜘蛛的影响，因为萨利什海的海洋无脊椎动物尤其容易受到威胁，但我却一无所获，”该研究的主要作者、生物学家科马克·托勒-斯科特（Cormac Toler-Scott）在声明中说道。这项研究是他在不列颠哥伦比亚大学攻读动物学硕士学位期间进行的。“这主要是因为人们对这里存在的物种及其生活方式知之甚少。”

由于海岸线现在“人口稠密且发展迅速”，研究人员指出，记录其水域的生物多样性是“确定保护工作将在哪些方面产生最大影响的重要一步”，以应对人类活动对海洋的威胁。