Arthropod · pycnogonid

Ten-legged sea spider

Decolopoda australis

PacificAtlanticIndianSouthernArctic A single ocean

Depth

From the shore down to 1,890 m

Size

More than 30 cm across, legs included

Diet

Poorly known. A large, curved proboscis sucks up soft prey from the bottom

Zone

The sea floor · 200 – 3,500 m

Key facts

• It has 10 legs instead of the 8 that almost all other sea spiders have.
• Described in 1835, it was the first known sea spider with more than 8 legs. Scientists took a while to believe it.
• It has neither gills nor lungs: oxygen passes through its shell.
• Alive, it is scarlet red. It is one of the sea spiders with the widest range of depths.

Verified sources

1. Museums Victoria : Decolopoda australis, Ten-legged Sea Spider
2. SeaLifeBase : Decolopoda australis
3. Australian Geographic : the giant Antarctic sea spider

In the game: To observe

In the same zone

Antarctic sea starOdontaster validus Giant Antarctic sea starMacroptychaster accrescens Antarctic sea urchinSterechinus neumayeri Abyssal Antarctic dragonfishBathydraco scotiae Emerald rockcodTrematomus bernacchii Turquet’s octopusPareledone turqueti