Researchers at the University of British Columbia have described two sea spider species new to science, both found in shallow water in the Salish Sea between British Columbia and Washington State. NPR reports they are the first sea spiders identified in that area in more than a century. Each measures about a centimetre across, and they were collected on dives off Vancouver and Quadra islands between September 2023 and August 2024.
One of them, Callipallene pilosuspedes, has red eyes, a triangular three-lipped mouth and limbs called ovigers that it uses to comb algae and dirt off itself — something not every sea spider can manage. The other, Tanystylum kiixin, is named after an ancient Indigenous village near where it was found. It is shorter and stockier, cannot groom itself, and was caked in debris when collected. Neither has venom or fangs; both rely on camouflage, taking on the colour of whatever they have eaten.
Lead researcher Cormac Toler-Scott told NPR that finding new species is “everyone’s kind of dream”, though an uncommon one, partly because the work is difficult to fund. Further dives are planned, and the team expects to turn up more.
Source: NPR