Their arms are quite fragile, but can regenerate quickly. This specimen has an armspan of over 25cm. The seapig is a rather grotesque looking relative of the sea cucumber, another echinoderm. These are one of the most common macroscopic animals pulled up in bottom dredges. They plow through and eat mud, digesting the organic particles and bacteria, much like earthworms.
Sea spiders are relatives of crustaceans and belong to the class Pycnogonida.
They stride around the ocean bottom on their long legs and suck their meals out of sessile animals like anemones and some echinoderms with their tube-like mouth parts. Sea spiders are found at all depths along the bottom, and range in size from that of a small spider to over a 30cm leg span. This large shrimp is another example of a deep sea crustacean, like the bathyl amphipod. This animal has no eyes, and is coloured red, both of which are good adaptations for the lightless environment. They feed on whatever small organic bits and pieces they can.