The Intertidal Psuedoscorpion, Halobisium occidentale, is the second species of pseudoscorpion to be documented on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

The Intertidal Psuedoscorpion, Halobisium occidentale, is the second species of pseudoscorpion to be documented on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. (Photo courtesy Kenai National Wildlife Refuge)

Refuge Notebook: Alaska’s smallest sea monster

Lurking in some of Alaska’s woods, swamps, and rocky places is the tiniest monster one could conjure into existence. With oversized pedipalps (pincers) protruding far from the cephalothorax (head and chest), its waxy body is coated in a fine layer of bristles, giving our creature an enhanced tactile sense for seizing unsuspecting prey. Silk glands produce cocoons in which these beasts mature and brood.

This micro-monster is a psuedoscorpion, an order of arachnids. They are most easily recognized by their large pedipalps, which resemble those of a scorpion, and their plump, pear-shaped body and eight legs.

Pseudoscorpions are similar to true scorpions, but they don’t have long tails that end in a stinger. These tiny predators have no ability to bite, sting or pinch humans. Also unlike scorpions, some pseudoscorpions have been known to hitch rides on flying insects, a behavior known as phoresy. Phoresy is when an animal latches onto another animal only for the ride.

A perceptive eye is necessary to spot the elusive pseudoscorpion. They range from two to eight millimeters—about half the size of a Kenai Peninsula mosquito! Our very small neighbors are rarely seen, spending most of their lives hidden in dark places.

Male pseudoscorpions possess the skills to woo females. When pseudoscorpions prepare to take a mate they will lock onto each other’s pedipalps and the intense mating dance begins! The male parades the female around until he deposits a stalked sperm packet onto the ground. He then guides her over it, where she takes it up. Truly quite the rendition of the two-step.

Three thousand species of pseudoscorpions exist globally, 300 of which can be found in the U.S. and Canada. Seven pseudoscorpion species are native to Alaska, but few people have laid eyes on these monsters due to their small size and secretive habits.

Prior to June 8, the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge only had one pseudoscorpion species in its checklist of more than 2,000 species. That morning, I accompanied Refuge Entomologist Matt Bowser and his son Ethan on a hike down the Gull Rock Trail near Hope. We crossed through Forest Service lands to reach a piece of rocky coastline along Turnagain Arm that is managed by the Kenai Refuge.

We timed the hike to ensure that the tide was totally out when we reached Gull Rock. Flipping over rock after rock and checking crevices that line the small tide pools, Ethan did indeed find the Intertidal Pseudoscorpion (Halobisium occidentale), a fantastic species we are proud to call a resident of the Refuge.

Outside the Kenai Peninsula, the Intertidal Pseudoscorpion is widely distributed on rocky North Pacific coasts from California to the Aleutian Islands.

The mission of the National Wildlife Refuge System is to provide a network of public lands and waters for conservation and management. Understanding what lives within our refuge boundaries is the first step in making educated management decisions. Finding this new species was very exciting and a great addition to our understanding of the complex ecological web on the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge.

So keep your eyes wide open for the incoming tide, and these little monsters that play their part in this big world to which we all belong.

Cade Kellam, an undergraduate student at the University of Alaska Fairbanks, is a biological intern this summer at the Kenai National Wildlife Refuge. Find more information at http://www.fws.gov/refuge/kenai/ or http://www.facebook.com/kenainationalwildliferefuge.

More in Life

Will Morrow (courtesy)
Springing ahead

I’m not ready to spring ahead

Murder suspect William Dempsey is pictured shortly after he was captured on the outskirts of Seward in early September 1919. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 8

Dempsey spent more than a decade attempting to persuade a judge to recommend him for executive clemency

Promotional image via the Performing Arts Society
Saturday concert puts jazz, attitude on stage

Lohmeyer is a former local music teacher

The author holds a copy of Greta Thunberg’s, “No One Is Too Small to Make a Difference,” inside the Peninsula Clarion building on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, in Kenai, Alaska. (Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion)
Off the Shelf: Thunberg speeches pack a punch

“No One Is Too Small to Make A Difference” is a compilation of 16 essays given by the climate activist

White chocolate cranberry cake is served with fresh cranberries. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
Hard-to-ruin cranberry cake

This white chocolate cranberry cake is easy to make and hard to ruin — perfect for my students aged 3, 6, 7 and 7.

Virginia Walters (Courtesy photo)
Life in the Pedestrian Lane: It’s March

March is the trickster month, probably why we see so much raven activity these days

After Pres. Woodrow Wilson commuted his death sentence to life in prison, William Dempsey (inmate #3572) was delivered from Alaska to the federal penitentiary on McNeil Island, Wash. These were his intake photos. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 7

The opening line of Dempsey’s first letter to Bunnell — dated March 19, 1926 — got right to the point

Bella Ramsey as Ellie and Pedro Pascal as Joel in “The Last of Us.” (Photo courtesy HBO)
On the Screen: ‘The Last of Us’ perfectly adapts a masterpiece

HBO unquestionably knew they had a hit on their hands

Chocolate cake is topped with white chocolate cream cheese frosting. (Photo by Tressa Dale/Peninsula Clarion)
A cake topped with love (and white chocolate cream cheese)

He loved the frosting so much he said he never wants anything else on his cake

In 1914, Pres. Woodrow Wilson appointed Charles Bunnell to be the judge of the Federal District Court for the Third and Fourth divisions of the Alaska Territory. (Photo courtesy of the University of Alaska Fairbanks archives)
A Nexus of Lives and Lies: The William Dempsey story — Part 6

Prosecution lawyers were fortunate to have a fallback plan: witnesses to the crime.

The author displays her daily vitamin, three yellowish clear bubbles of Vitamin D, and 20 mg of Paxil. (Photo by Meredith Harber/Minister’s Message)
Minister’s Message: Accepting all parts of your story of growth

I started taking Paxil almost six years ago, after a lifelong struggle with anxiety and depression

Ashlyn O’Hara/Peninsula Clarion 
A copy of Marie Aubert’s “Grown Ups” sits on a desk in The Peninsula Clarion building on Wednesday in Kenai.
Off the Shelf: Good for her

Marie Aubert’s “Grown Ups” caught my attention with a flashy cover and a review from Independent Ireland on the cover