sea spider, spider

Sea spiders, also called Pantopoda or pycnogonids ('pycnogonid' = Greek for 'thick knee') , are marine arthropods of class Pycnogonida. They are cosmopolitan, found especially in the Mediterranean and Caribbean Seas and the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. There are approximately 1000 known species, ranging in size from 1-10 mm, to over 90 cm in some deep water species. Most are toward the smaller end of this range, although in relatively shallow depths they grow to be the largest in Antarctica.