The xwoxwá:ya (plural xwixwiyá:ye) was a cryptid arthropod reported from tide pools on the coasts of the Salish Sea and North Pacific Ocean, off British Columbia and Haida Gwaii, in Canada. It is described as a relatively large invertebrate, compared to wingless flies and crabs.[2][1]
Oliver Wells (1907 – 1970), an anthropologist who conducted taped cultural interviews with Pacific Coast peoples between 1958 and 1968, was told about these animals by Albert Louie, a Skwah man, in 1965 or 1967.[1] Louie claimed to have seen xwoxwá:ya swimming or "crawling around" at the bottom of relatively shallow, clear water while hunting ducks. He described them as black in colour and larger than his hand, with big black "hands" like a crab. Louie's grandfather warned him that they had a very dangerous, venomous bite.[2]