3 New Sea Spiders That ‘Eat’ Methane Discovered on the Ocean Floor

Apparently, there are methane-powered sea spiders lurking among us—or, at least, at the bottom of the ocean.

According to a paper published Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a genus of sea spiders called Sericosura feeds on Epibiotic methanotrophs. The researchers originally set out to explore methane seeps and the organisms surrounding them within the deep waters of the Pacific Ocean. In doing so, they discovered methane-consuming sea spiders. 

“Three undescribed sea spider species (family Ammotheidae; genus Sericosura) endemic to methane seeps were found along the eastern Pacific margin, from California to Alaska, hosting diverse methane- and methanol-oxidizing bacteria on their exoskeleton,” the authors wrote in the paper.

Methane-eating sea spiders off the Southern California coast

Sea spiders have already been well-documented in the area, but these three newly discovered species’ methane-eating habits have not been. It appears the creatures collect and consume gas on their exoskeleton.

“We propose that these sea spiders farm and feed on methanotrophic and methylotrophic bacteria, expanding the realm of animals known to harness C1 compounds as a carbon source,” they continued. 

The sea spiders are translucent and tiny, only around a centimeter long. However, they’re also “extremely adorable,” according to Shana Goffredi, a professor and chair of biology at Occidental College in Los Angeles and co-author of the paper, per SFGATE. She also labeled the discovery as a “happy accident.” 

Not to mention, this discovery is an important piece of a much larger puzzle. In fact, it sheds more light on the ocean’s methane cycles.

“While the deep sea feels far away, all organisms are interconnected, and the processes in one ecosystem affect the other,” said Goffredi. “The deep sea is so important. It’s involved in climate regulation, production of oxygen, and supply of fisheries … So it’s really important to understand the biodiversity of these unique places.”

“These findings advance our understanding of the biology of an understudied animal lineage, unlocking some of the unique nutritional links between the microbial and faunal food webs in the oceans,” the researchers added in their paper.