Neolithodes capensis

Neolithodes capensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
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,^[2] 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).^[3]^[4]^[5] They have been found near Cape Point,^[1] around the Crozet and Kerguelen Islands in the subantarctic,^[6] and in the Bellingshausen Sea on the Antarctic continental slope.^[7]^[8] 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.^[9]^[10]

Description

Neolithodes capensis has numerous spines covering the surfaces of its carapace, chelipeds, and walking legs.^[3] On its underside, thick spines are found on its abdomen, but these lessen in acuity after the second segment.^[3] In males, its carapace measures up to 131 mm (5.2 in) in length and 130 mm (5.1 in) in width.^[3] Its rostrum ranges from approximately 1⁄8 to 1⁄4 the length of its carapace.^[3] Its chelae and dactyli both bear small spines, and the fingers of its chelae additionally feature rows of setae tufts.^[3] It closely resembles N. yaldwyni, a king crab of the Southern Ocean.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b 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.
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f 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.
^ 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.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: article number as page number (link)
^ ^a ^b 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 978-0478232851. LCCN 2010497356. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 February 2020.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ Ahyong & Dawson 2006, p. 55.
^ Ahyong 2010, p. 107.

Works cited

Ahyong, Shane T.; Dawson, Elliot W. (28 August 2006). "Lithodidae from the Ross Sea, Antarctica, with descriptions of two new species (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura)". Zootaxa. 1303 (1): 45–68. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.1303.1.3.