New Crab Species Shares Name with Hollywood Star
Published at(LONDON) — It works and plays in the ocean, and sports a hairy chest — that’s apparently all scientists needed to name a newly discovered species after former Baywatch star David Hasselhoff.
According to the BBC, “The Hoff Crab,” a relative of the already-discovered yeti crab, congregates around hot volcanic vents deep in the ocean floor of the East Scotia Ridge near Georgia, in Southwestern Asia.
Yeti crabs are recognized for their hairs, or setae, which grow along their claws and limbs on which bacteria grow, which the crabs then eat. The Hoff crabs, like Hasselhoff himself, bear a patch of setae on their undersides, giving them the appearance of having hairy chests.
The report says scientists will eventually get around to giving The Hoff Crab a formal scientific name.
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