Discover new crustaceans

New crustacean discovered Kiwa hirsuta - Photo: AP

A group of divers discovered a new crustacean in the southern Pacific, resembling shrimp and covered with a fine yellow fur.

Scientists say the animal, named Kiwa hirsuta, is very different from the species they once discovered and classified them.

Divers said the animal lived at a depth of 2.3 km below the water, at a location 1.440 km away from Easter Island.

This new crustacean is described in the magazine of the National Museum of Natural History in Paris. It is white and only 15 cm long. Kiwa hirsuta is blind, according to Michel Segonzac of the French Marine Survey, and there is only 'trace of a membrane' in the position of the eyes.

Researchers say that while many ocean-dwelling species are discovered every year, this newly discovered crustacean is quite rare, possibly considered a member of a new family called Kiwaida, starting from the name Kiwa, the crustacean goddess in Polynesia mythology.

T.VY