Thursday 31 December 2015

supersize polar spiders.



What’s Supersizing Antarctica’s Sea Spiders?
Polar sea spiders grow bigger than their equatorial brethren.
by Meredith Swett Walker  .December 29, 2015
With eight spindly legs, a minimalist body, and long proboscis, sea spiders look like something from the fever dream of an arachnophobic science fiction author. But sea spiders are very real, and they live all over the world. And in the dark, cold waters of the polar oceans, sea spiders grow big, huge—their legs spanning the width of your face.Formally known as pycnogonids, sea spiders are a primitive group of marine arthropods. They’re not technically spiders. Most often, sea spiders are small, cryptic creatures.Yet in the Arctic Ocean and Southern Ocean, sea spiders grow huge. But they’re not the only ones that do. The polar oceans are awash in creatures of unusual size, including copepods, echinoderms, and certain mollusks that grow larger than their more equatorial relatives—a phenomenon called “polar gigantism.”

just a cheering thought as the new year approaches....giant spiders .What else could be lurking that is giant size in polar waters? 

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