Neolithodes capensis

Neolithodes capensis
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Anomura
Family: Lithodidae
Genus: Neolithodes
Species:
N. capensis
Binomial name
Neolithodes capensis
Stebbing, 1905

Neolithodes capensis, also known as cape stone crab, is a species of king crab that is found in the Southern Ocean and the western Indian Ocean. It has been found to a depth of 660–3,200 metres (2,170–10,500 ft). They have been found near Cape Point, around the Crozet and Kerguelen Islands in the subantarctic, and in the Bellingshausen Sea on the Antarctic continental slope. In 2006, the description of a very similar species from the Ross Sea, N. yaldwyni, introduced the possibility that records from the Antarctic and subantarctic are not N. capensis.

Description

Neolithodes capensis has numerous spines covering the surfaces of its carapace, chelipeds, and walking legs. On its underside, thick spines are found on its abdomen, but these lessen in acuity after the second segment. In males, its carapace measures up to 131 mm (5.2 in) in length and 130 mm (5.1 in) in width. Its rostrum ranges from approximately 1⁄8 to 1⁄4 the length of its carapace. Its chelae and dactyli both bear small spines, and the fingers of its chelae additionally feature rows of setae tufts. It closely resembles N. yaldwyni, a king crab of the Southern Ocean.

References

  1. 1 2 Stebbing, Thomas R. R. (1905). "South African Crustacea. Part III". In Gilchrist, John Dow Fisher (ed.). Marine Investigations in South Africa. Vol. IV. pp. 70–73.
  2. ↑ Lara Atkinson; Kerry Sink (2018). Atkinson LJ, Sink KJ (ed.). Field Guide to the Offshore Marine Invertebrates of South Africa (PDF). Malachite Marketing and Media. p. 189. doi:10.15493/SAEON.PUB.10000001. ISBN 978-1-86868-098-6.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Macpherson, Enrique (1988). "Revision of the family Lithodidae Samouelle, 1819 (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) in the Atlantic Ocean" (PDF). Monografías de Zoología Marina. II: 40–42. ISSN 0213-4020. Archived (PDF) from the original on 14 May 2020 – via the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
  4. ↑ Griffiths, Huw J.; Whittle, Rowan J.; Roberts, Stephen J.; Belchier, Mark; Linse, Katrin (July 2013). Archambault, Philippe (ed.). "Antarctic Crabs: Invasion or Endurance?". PLoS One. 8 (7) e66981. Bibcode:2013PLoSO...866981G. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0066981. PMC 3700924. PMID 23843974.
  5. 1 2 Ahyong, Shane T. (2010). The Marine Fauna of New Zealand: King Crabs of New Zealand, Australia, and the Ross Sea (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae) (PDF). NIWA Diversity Memoirs. Vol. 123. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. pp. 73, 107. ISBN 978-0-478-23285-1. LCCN 2010497356. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 February 2020.
  6. ↑ Macpherson, Enrique (26 March 2004). "A new species and new records of lithodid crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae) from the Crozet and Kerguelen Islands area (Subantarctica)". Polar Biology. 27 (7): 418–422. Bibcode:2004PoBio..27..418M. doi:10.1007/s00300-004-0609-1. S2CID 25109992.
  7. ↑ García Raso, J. E.; Manjón-Cabeza, M. E.; Ramos, A.; Olaso, I. (23 March 2005). "New record of Lithodidae (Crustacea Decapoda, Anomura) from the Antarctic (Bellingshausen Sea)" (PDF). Polar Biology. 28 (8): 642–646. Bibcode:2005PoBio..28..642G. doi:10.1007/s00300-005-0722-9. hdl:10261/321709. S2CID 2955102. Archived (PDF) from the original on 20 May 2020 – via the University of Málaga.
  8. ↑ Thatje, Sven; Hall, Sally; Hauton, Chris; Held, Christoph; Tyler, Paul (27 May 2008). "Encounter of lithodid crab Paralomis birsteini on the continental slope off Antarctica, sampled by ROV" (PDF). Polar Biology. 31 (9): 1143–1148. Bibcode:2008PoBio..31.1143T. doi:10.1007/s00300-008-0457-5. S2CID 1675115. Archived (PDF) from the original on 22 July 2018 – via the University of Southampton.
  9. ↑ Ahyong & Dawson 2006, p. 55.
  10. ↑ Ahyong 2010, p. 107.

Works cited