Giant Sea Spiders

February 19, 2008 at 6:41 pm (neat things)

Giant sea spiders and other species are among thousands of creatures—a quarter of them previously unknown—found in the icy depths of the Southern Ocean.

Check it out.

9 Comments

  1. Jamelle said,

    February 19, 2008 at 8:33 pm

    Giant sea spiders?

    Absurd.

  2. Dan (Fitness) said,

    February 19, 2008 at 9:52 pm

    I wonder if those things are actually arachnids.

  3. Emily said,

    February 19, 2008 at 10:06 pm

    A quick google-search I did suggests that sea spiders (scientific name Chelicerata) belong to the same group of Arthropods as arachnids, and so are closely related, but constitute a separate subdivision of animal. If I understand correctly.

  4. Dan (Fitness) said,

    February 19, 2008 at 10:42 pm

    Damnit. I hate spiders. I was hoping against hope they were just named after them.
    Spiders give me the absolute creeps.

  5. Emily said,

    February 19, 2008 at 11:30 pm

    Aw, I think they’re kinda cute. And they remind me more of squid than spiders, really.

  6. moonbeammcqueen said,

    February 20, 2008 at 12:58 am

    Beautiful and amazing — thanks!

  7. Infra said,

    February 20, 2008 at 8:30 am

    Thank you. I now officially know what I want to be in my next life. (Giant sea spider, giant sea spider, no whammies, stop!)

    But on a somewhat unrelated note, after watching the video: is “funny dangly bits” a technical term? I’m kind of hoping that it is. That way I’d be able to introduce it into conversations with a completely straight face.

  8. Maia said,

    February 22, 2008 at 12:50 pm

    Gah! I just wrote out a huge comment and lost it.

    Well, i guess the gist of it was that i love people who wish dearly to reincarnate as sea organisms. I know that in the path of samsara when i come back as a eagle ray i will be doing great.

    Also, those tunicates were totally awesome! I was under the impression that they did not have much of skeletal structure or support, their tests were made of sillica i presume? or maybe cellulose? One question i do have (which came up last semester while we were studying about hydrothermal vent organisms) is if the lights used to look at such animals does them harm? If so, i do understand the excitement and importance of studying these animals, and i would not suggest we stop….but i am just curious.

    Thanks for always providing me with news of sea goodness guys!

  9. Emily said,

    February 22, 2008 at 12:56 pm

    One question i do have (which came up last semester while we were studying about hydrothermal vent organisms) is if the lights used to look at such animals does them harm?

    Yikes, that possibility never occurred to me. I sure hope not…Thanks for visiting us here Maia!

    And Infra, please do use the term “funny dangly bits” with a straight face in everyday conversation, and do it often. Regardless of it’s official status as technical or not. It’s wonderful.

Comments are closed.