Lithodes aotearoa
Appearance
Lithodes aotearoa | |
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Juvenile above, adult specimen below | |
Scientific classification | |
Domain: | Eukaryota |
Kingdom: | Animalia |
Phylum: | Arthropoda |
Class: | Malacostraca |
Order: | Decapoda |
Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
Infraorder: | Anomura |
Family: | Lithodidae |
Genus: | Lithodes |
Species: | L. aotearoa
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Binomial name | |
Lithodes aotearoa |
Lithodes aotearoa is a New Zealand species of king crab.[2] It had formerly been confused with L. longispina and L. murrayi, but neither of those species are found in New Zealand.[2] It is the second most widespread and common lithodid in New Zealand waters after Neolithodes brodiei,[2] and the New Zealand Department of Conservation classifies it as "Not Threatened".[1]
Appearance
[edit]L. aotearoa is deep-purplish red in colour and has prominent, slender spines on its dorsal surface with the area inbetween being mostly smooth.[2] They have a pyriform carapace having been measured as large as 240 mm (9.4 in) in length and 199.1 mm (7.84 in) in width, making them the largest lithodids known from New Zealand.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b Freeman, Debbie; et al. (December 2014). Conservation status of New Zealand marine invertebrates, 2013 (PDF) (Report). New Zealand Threat Classification Series. Vol. 9. Department of Conservation. p. 13. ISBN 978-0478150322. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g Shane T. Ahyong (2010). "The marine fauna of New Zealand: king crabs of New Zealand, Australia and the Ross Sea (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae)" (PDF). NIWA Biodiversity Memoir. 123: 1–194. ISSN 1174-0043. Wikidata Q63247008.
External links
[edit]- Media related to Lithodes aotearoa at Wikimedia Commons
- Data related to Lithodes aotearoa at Wikispecies