K. hirsuta was discovered in March 2005 by a group organized by Robert Vrijenhoek of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute in Monterey, California and Michel Segonzac of the Ifremer and a Census of Marine Life scientist using the submarine DSV Alvin, operating from RV Atlantis. The discovery was announced on 7 March 2006. It was found along the Pacific-Antarctic Ridge, south of Easter Island at a depth of , living on hydrothermal vents. Based on both morphology and molecular data, the organism was deemed to form a new biological family (Kiwaidae); a second species, Kiwa puravida, was discovered in 2006 and described in 2011. Yeti Crabs live in hydrothermal vents, which are deep within the ocean. These vents provide hot water which makes up the environment where these crabs live. The crabs regulate their ecosystem by using their hairy arms to collect toxins released from the hydrothermal vents.
