These Sea Spiders Feed On Methane-Eating Microbes
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Methane is usually linked to global warming. But far below the ocean’s surface, three newly discovered sea spider species have found a way to use this greenhouse gas as a survival tool.
Shana Goffredi and her team at Occidental College discovered the creatures by accident. They were studying ecosystems around methane seeps off the coast of California and Alaska. These are deep-sea areas where methane gas escapes from Earth’s crust into the ocean.
The nearly transparent sea spiders belong to the genus Sericosura. They are only 0.4 inches (1 cm) long. Their small size prevents them from hunting like typical sea spiders. Instead, they depend on the bacteria that live on their bodies. These microbes feed on methane and turn it into nutrients such as sugars and fats. The spiders then scrape off and eat the bacteria.
"Just like you would eat eggs for breakfast, the sea spider grazes the surface of its body, and it munches all those bacteria for nutrition," says Goffredi.
The bacteria also benefit from this relationship. Living on the spiders gives them a safe home with everything they need to survive.
"Even if 80 percent of the population are eaten [by the spiders], it’s worth it for the 20 percent to keep surviving and reproducing," Nicole Dubilier, a researcher at MPI for Marine Microbiology, told CNN.
The scientists published their findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences on June 16, 2025. These are the first sea spiders seen feeding on microbes that eat methane. However, some deep-sea tube worms and sponges also share this unusual diet. Together, these tiny animals likely play an important role in keeping methane out of Earth’s atmosphere. Goffredi believes that, someday, similar microbes could be grown to help reduce this harmful gas in other environments.
Resources: CNN.com, Interestingengineering.com, Smithsonianmag.com
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14 Comments
naturelover591 daywow i have never heard of SEA spiders lol
sresendes2 daysi hate! spiders
chocolaterose753 daysLet's go sea spiders!
dusesuvufapo3 daysive heeard of water spiders but not sea spiders but YAY!!!
anne03273 daysWOW it's so cute
suri02204 daysHalloween article. Totally. Because of that spider crab.- suri02204 daysSea spiders are 100% weirder than spider crabs.
bellabigbac4 daysi'm super scared of all spiders, even tiny ones, soooooo this wasn't so fun to read
lulukat4 daysI knew there were spider crabs, but I never knew that there were ACTUAL sea spiders! This is really awesome!
rdicola3 daysyeah like so AWESOME!!!!!
- donuvakutunu4 daysso creepy but cool
- lulukat4 daysI'm not scared of spiders, (except when one touches me, then I scream and run) I find spiders fascinating :) I like looking at them from a SAFE distance. It makes sense this is a little bit creepy, because its almost halloween! Lol