[3] Because yeti crabs live in extreme environments like cold seeps and hydrothermal vents, the species has adapted certain behaviors and qualities to aid their survival.

[15][3] The third undescribed species of Kiwa was discovered in 2010 in the Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean at vents on the East Scotia Ridge.

Compared with the first two species, it has proportionally much shorter chelae, with the majority of the bacteria-growing setae concentrated on the ventral carapace.

[17] Research pertaining to fossils around the Eocene-Oligocene boundary in the eastern Pacific suggests a decrease in deep temperatures and increased ventilation in each habitat may have influenced species divergence.

Likewise fossils found in the mid-Miocene (located in the tropical East Pacific), indicate that the evolution of one species of yeti crab, K. puravida, may coincide with lower deep sea temperatures.

[16] Kiwa crustaceans play a crucial role in the deep-sea ecosystem, serving as primary consumers and contributing to the biodiversity within hydrothermal vent communities.

Since sunlight cannot provide the necessary fatty acids and carbon isotopes necessary for their survival, yeti crabs rely solely on symbiotic bacteria as their main food source.

[21] In another species, K. tyleri, males were observed to be found in groups closest to hydrothermal vents, while females were seen further away from these dense areas.

This may be because egg-bearing females need to escape the high levels of heat near vents and move to a colder area in order to protect the development of their eggs.

[22] An additional adaptation found in the species Kiwa (tyleri) is the formation of a spine on the propodus (the end of the crab leg).