Neolithodes asperrimus

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Neolithodes asperrimus
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Anomura
Family: Lithodidae
Genus: Neolithodes
Species:
N. asperrimus
Binomial name
Neolithodes asperrimus
Barnard, 1947 [1]

Neolithodes asperrimus, also known as the rough stone crab, [2] [3] is a species of king crab native to the west coast of Africa though it was known to be found in South Africa. [4] [5] [6] It is the largest lithodid species in Africa and the largest species of Neolithodes, attaining in the largest specimen, a male of a carapace length of 225.0 mm (8.86 in) and a carapace width of 220.2 mm (8.67 in), but another specimen attains a carapace length of 228.2 mm (8.98 in) [a] and a carapace width of 224.9 mm (8.85 in). [7] [8]

Contents

Description

Neolithodes asperrimus has a dark red carapace, chelipeds, and walking legs, and its largest spines are typically bright red. [9] It is covered in an even distribution of many large spines and small spicules. [10] Males grow up to 195 mm (7.7 in) in length and up to 189 mm (7.4 in) in width. [9] In females, this is 180 mm (7.1 in) and 156 mm (6.1 in), respectively, and ovigerous females are known to be 133 mm (5.2 in) or longer. [9] Its rostrum usually extends beyond its eyes except in very large individuals. [9] Its abdomen is covered with many spinules or spine-like granules, and the median plate of its second segment bears several well-developed spines. [9]

It has distinct groove between the first pereiopods. The second abdominal segment's median plate features several well-developed spines, with lateral and marginal plates also bearing spines on the terminal edge, along with numerous spinules and granules. The antenna's basal segment has a small outer spine at the end, while the second segment carries a terminal spine. Chelipeds are heavily armed: the merus bears three long, thick spines on the end and dorsal border, with smaller spines on the anterior half; the carpus has 3 to 4 long dorsal spines and 4 to 5 smaller ones on the outside; the hand has 4 to 5 thick, short spines on the dorsal border and two rows of small spines on the ventral and inner borders. The fingers are less than 1.5 times the hand length, with small basal spines and yellow setae, rounded on both dorsal and ventral borders. The second pereiopod is longer than the first, but the first is longer than the third; the third is more or less than three times the carapace length. The terminal coxal border has short, thick spines; the basis-ischium bears two posterior spines. The merus is longer than the propodus and has several spines on the anterior border. The carpus is less than twice the merus length and has 6 to 8 spines on the anterior margin, while the propodus carries 10 to 12 spines. The dactyl is curved, dorsoventrally flattened, and lined with rows of spinules. [11]

Distribution

Neolithodes asperrimus occurs on the shelf and slope between 600–2,000 m (2,000–6,600 ft), but it is previously at between 900–1,200 m (3,000–3,900 ft). Off Nambia, the highest depth is 615 m (2,018 ft) or more. [12] It is found in Africa including Mauritania, Ivory Coast and Namibia, to Cape Point and as far as east Durban. [13] [14] Though it was found in Southern Africa. [5] [15] [16] Additionally, Neolithodes aff. asperrimus has been found in Madagascar and the South Region of Brazil. [17] [18]

Taxonomy

Neolithodes asperrimus was described in 1947 by Keppel Harcourt Barnard from a male syntype and a female syntype found off Saldanha Bay and off Cape Point. [1] Its specific name, asperrimus, derives from the Latin asper and -rimus, meaning "very thorny". [19] It is closely related to N. agassizii from the West Atlantic and N. capensis from South Africa and the subantarctic, distinguished from the latter through features such as the small spinelets on its body. [20] Two studies on the molecular phylogeny of king crabs show that N. asperrimus is most closely related to N. duhameli from the Crozet Islands. [21] [22]

Ecology

Neolithodes asperrimus is known to be parasitised by Caprella urgulina , a species of Gammaridean amphipod. [23] It is occasionally caught in crab pots and bottom trawls as bycatch, but it is not a commercial species. [19]

Notes

  1. ↑ Postrostral length excludes the rostrum. Including the rostrum, the carapace is 240.6 mm (9.47 in).

References

  1. 1 2 Barnard 1947, p. 374.
  2. ↑ Atkinson & Sink 2018, p. 188.
  3. ↑ Emmerson 2016, p. 90.
  4. ↑ Ahyong, Shane T. (1 September 2020). "Neolithodes asperrimus Barnard, 1947". WoRMS. World Register of Marine Species . Retrieved 25 June 2025.
  5. 1 2 Muñoz & García-Isarch 2013, p. 47.
  6. ↑ https://www.google.com.ph/books/edition/A_Guide_to_and_Checklist_for_the_Decapod/QzLZDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Neolithodes+asperrimus&pg=PA83&printsec=frontcover
  7. ↑ https://api-internal.aidocmaker.com/fetch_pdf?name=69ef94efd910431b8535d186b59bee49&access_token=MIq5ZtEqmCFQAYdIhApnj6m15R3z3iPujfymKrtvmlY&doc_code=&pdf=true
  8. ↑ https://api-internal.aidocmaker.com/fetch_pdf?name=b571745e9a15428e9a316cb0b65fce0e&access_token=4RbKnrO-HEYskZFu5fnBtvD9cYQejjJW_SLG5tltvUA&doc_code=&pdf=true
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Macpherson 1988b, p. 38.
  10. ↑ Macpherson 1988b, p. 37.
  11. ↑ https://www.google.com.ph/books/edition/A_Guide_to_and_Checklist_for_the_Decapod/QzLZDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Neolithodes+asperrimus&pg=PA83&printsec=frontcover
  12. ↑ https://www.google.com.ph/books/edition/A_Guide_to_and_Checklist_for_the_Decapod/QzLZDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Neolithodes+asperrimus&pg=PA83&printsec=frontcover
  13. ↑ Kensley 1978.
  14. ↑ https://www.google.com.ph/books/edition/A_Guide_to_and_Checklist_for_the_Decapod/QzLZDQAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=Neolithodes+asperrimus&pg=PA83&printsec=frontcover
  15. ↑ Kensley 1968, p. 287.
  16. ↑ de Matos-Pita, Ramil & Ramos 2018 , p. 5: "Neolithodes asperrimus showed the highest occurrence in the area, being collected from 45 stations distributed evenly along the entire Mauritanian coast between 997 and 1862 m depth."
  17. ↑ Macpherson 1988a, p. 125.
  18. ↑ Lianos et al. 2017, p. 981.
  19. 1 2 Emmerson 2016, p. 93.
  20. ↑ Emmerson 2016, p. 91.
  21. ↑ Noever & Glenner 2017, p. 309.
  22. ↑ Hall & Thatje 2018, pp. 5, 8, 10.
  23. ↑ Vader & Tandberg 2015, p. 525.

Works cited

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