New hairy-legged, three-lipped, red-eyed sea spider species discovered - CNN

If the sight of a spider already makes your skin crawl, you might find the two sea spider species newly discovered by scientists even more unnerving. Researchers in Canada discovered two previously unknown sea spider species during scuba dives, up to 18 meters (59 feet) deep, between September 2023 and August 2024 in the Salish Sea, which sits between the western Canadian province of British Columbia and the US state of Washington. One of the species has long, curved spines that cover the spider’s lower legs, according to the study published Wednesday in the journal Organisms Diversity & Evolution. For that reason, it is named Callipallene pilosuspedes, with “pilosus” being the Latin for “hairy” and “pedes” meaning “feet.” The creature, which has a slender trunk, also has red eyes, three lips at the opening of its triangular mouth and claws.