A peculiar sea spider with hairy legs and red eyes might seem like a creature from a nightmare, but it’s a real-life discovery in the Salish Sea of southern British Columbia. Recently, researchers identified two new species of these ocean-dwelling creatures in the region. The University of British Columbia’s Cormac Toller-Scott, conducting the study for his zoology master’s degree, highlighted the lack of research on marine invertebrates in the area, particularly sea spiders.
During dives from September 2023 to August 2024, Toller-Scott and his team explored marine habitats up to 18 meters deep in locations such as Quadra Island, Vancouver, Bamfield, and Victoria. They meticulously studied the sea spiders’ physical characteristics and genetic data, leading to the identification of two previously undocumented species living on a hydroid, a stationary underwater organism resembling a grounded jellyfish.
Named “Callipallene pilosuspedes” for its hairy feet and “Tanystylum kiixin” after a nearby Indigenous village site, the newfound species exhibit unique behaviors like feeding on the hydroid with their proboscis. This discovery adds to the limited knowledge of sea spiders in the region, where only 20 species had been recorded before.
Parallel to this research, other UBC scientists found three sea spider species near methane seeps and hydrothermal vents on the ocean floor. These spiders displayed a remarkable ability to cultivate bacteria that convert methane into essential nutrients, showcasing their ecological significance. Despite the challenges in funding taxonomic studies like Toller-Scott’s, these projects play a vital role in expanding scientific knowledge and understanding biodiversity, especially in the diverse marine ecosystems along the Canadian West Coast.
