King crabs are decapod crustaceans in the family Lithodidae that are chiefly found in deep waters and are adapted to cold environments. They are composed of two subfamilies: Lithodinae, which tend to inhabit deep waters, are globally distributed, and comprise the majority of the family's species diversity; and Hapalogastrinae, which are endemic to the North Pacific and inhabit exclusively shallow waters. King crabs are not true crabs and are generally thought to be derived from hermit crab ancestors within the Paguridae, which may explain the asymmetry still found in the adult forms. This ancestry is supported by several anatomical peculiarities which are present only in king crabs and hermit crabs. Although some doubt still exists about this hypothesis, king crabs are the most widely quoted example of carcinisation among the Decapoda. Several species of king crabs, especially in Alaskan and southern South American waters, are targeted by commercial fisheries and have been subject to overfishing.
Squat lobsters are dorsoventrally flattened crustaceans with long tails held curled beneath the cephalothorax. They are found in the two superfamilies Galatheoidea and Chirostyloidea, which form part of the decapod infraorder Anomura, alongside groups including the hermit crabs and mole crabs. They are distributed worldwide in the oceans, and occur from near the surface to deep sea hydrothermal vents, with one species occupying caves above sea level. More than 900 species have been described, in around 60 genera. Some species form dense aggregations, either on the sea floor or in the water column, and a small number are commercially fished.
Anomura is a group of decapod crustaceans, including hermit crabs and others. Although the names of many anomurans include the word crab, all true crabs are in the sister group to the Anomura, the Brachyura.
Glyptolithodes cristatipes, also known as the Peruvian centolla, is a species of king crab, and the only species in the genus Glyptolithodes. The species was briefly placed in the related genus Rhinolithodes after its initial description, but was soon moved to its own genus.
Lithodes maja, the Norway king crab or northern stone crab, is a species of king crab which occurs in colder North Atlantic waters off Europe and North America. It is found along the entire coast of Norway, including Svalbard, ranging south into the North Sea and Kattegat, the northern half of the British Isles, and around the Faroe Islands, Iceland, and off south-eastern Greenland. In the West Atlantic, it ranges from the Davis Strait between Greenland and Canada south to The Carolinas in the United States.
Lithodes galapagensis is a species of king crab described in 2009 that lives around the Galápagos Islands, where it's known from depths of 648 and 740 m. The two specimens upon which it was described had a carapace length of 11.4 and 8.4 cm, and the species quite resembles L. wiracocha from Peru.
Lithodes is a genus of king crabs. Today there are about 30 recognized species, but others formerly included in this genus have been moved to Neolithodes and Paralomis. They are found in oceans around the world, ranging from shallow to deep waters, but mostly at depths of 100–1,000 m (300–3,300 ft). They are restricted to relatively cold waters, meaning that they only occur at high depths at low latitudes, but some species also shallower at high latitudes. They are medium to large crabs, and some species are or were targeted by fisheries.
Neolithodes is a genus of king crabs, in the family Lithodidae. They are found in all major oceans, both in high and low latitudes. Although there are records from water as shallow as 124 m (407 ft) in cold regions, most records are much deeper, typically 700–2,000 m (2,300–6,600 ft), with the deepest confirmed at 5,238 m (17,185 ft). They are fairly large to large crabs that typically are reddish in color and spiny, although the size of these spines varies depending on species.
Neolithodes grimaldii, the porcupine crab, is a species of king crab in the family Lithodidae. This large red crab is found in cold deep waters in the North Atlantic and often caught as a bycatch in fisheries for Greenland turbot. As suggested by its common name, the carapace and legs are covered in long spines.
Neolithodes diomedeae is a species of king crab which is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, and the Bellingshausen and Scotia Seas in the Southern Ocean. They occur from 200 to 2,454 m.
Paralomis birsteini is a species of king crab. It has been found in the Southern Ocean near Scott Island at depths of 500–1,876 m (1,640–6,155 ft).
Lithodes longispina is a species of king crab. It has been found in Japan and Taiwan. Before 2010, its reach was thought to be much greater than presently understood, such as Australia, New Zealand, and Guam. It has also allegedly been sighted in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands.
Paralithodes brevipes, also known as the spiny king crab and sometimes the brown king crab, is a species of king crab. It has a limited distribution in cold, shallow waters as far south as the coast of Hokkaido, where male-only fishing has damaged the reproductive success of the species, up to as far north as the southwest Bering Sea.
Lithodes turkayi is a species of king crab. It has been found at depths of 70–1,696 m (230–5,564 ft) and lives in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Chile, the southern Atlantic Ocean near the Falkland Islands, and the Southern Ocean in the Bellingshausen Sea.
Lithodes manningi is a species of king crab. It has been found in Dominica and French Guiana at depths of 640–777 m (2,100–2,549 ft).
Lithodes confundens is a species of king crab. It is found on muddy bottoms off the southern coasts of South America from a depth of 0–283 m (0–928 ft).
Lithodes ferox, also known as the fierce king crab, is a species of king crab. It has been found on the muddy bottoms of the southeastern Atlantic Ocean at depths from 160–1,013 m (525–3,323 ft). It is distributed between the Gulf of Guinea, the northwesternmost coast of South Africa, and the island of Saint Helena.
Lithodes ahyongi is a species of king crab. It has been found between a depth of 1,000 and 1,500 m in Indonesia's Ceram Sea.
Lithodes murrayi, also known as the subantarctic stone crab, is a species of king crab. It lives near islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean on muddy bottoms at depths of 35–1,015 m (115–3,330 ft).
Lithodes couesi, also known as the scarlet king crab, is a species of king crab. It is typically found in the northeastern Pacific Ocean, but in 2019, it was found in the Burdwood Bank around the Scotia Arc at a depth of 605 m (1,985 ft).
