Neolithodes brodiei

Neolithodes brodiei
Conservation status
Not Threatened (NZ TCS) [1]
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Suborder:	Pleocyemata
Infraorder:	Anomura
Family:	Lithodidae
Genus:	Neolithodes
Species:	N. brodiei
Binomial name
Neolithodes brodiei Dawson & Yaldwyn, 1970 [2]

Neolithodes brodiei, also known as Brodie's king crab, ^[3] is a species of king crab that is native to New Zealand and its adjacent waters. ^[4] It lives at a depth of 500–1,240 metres (1,640–4,070 ft) but is typically found within a range of 950–1,150 metres (3,120–3,770 ft). ^[4] It is the most widespread and common king crab in New Zealand waters, ^[4] and the New Zealand Department of Conservation has classified it as "Not Threatened" in 2013 and 2023. ^{[1] [5]}

Description

Neolithodes brodiei is deep-red in colour and the dorsal carapace and walking pereiopods have been covered by numerous spinules and as well as large spines, which are throughout the dorsal carapace. ^[6] It has a pyriform carapace having been measured as large as 188 mm (7.4 in) in length ^[a] and 161.6 mm (6.36 in) in width, making it the second-largest king crab known from New Zealand behind Lithodes aotearoa . ^[8] Its first pair of walking legs are the shortest, and its third pair are the longest; in males, the third walking leg measures up to 2.94x the length of the carapace excluding the rostrum. ^[6]

Distribution

Neolithodes brodiei lacks a known presence beyond depths of about 1,200 m (3,900 ft), meaning it likely lives only on New Zealand's continental shelf and continental slope. ^[4] It has allegedly been found in the Haima cold seeps in the northwestern South China Sea at depths of approximately 1,300–1,400 metres (4,300–4,600 ft), but it may only occasionally visit the ecosystem. ^[9]

In 2001, a paper published in Zoosystema claimed to have found a specimen of N. brodiei in Vanuatu; ^[10] however, this was later determined to be a yet-undescribed species. ^[11] Likewise, a 2005 paper in Polar Biology claimed to have found four specimens off the Balleny Islands in the Southern Ocean, ^[12] but these were misidentified and were later determined to be a new species called Neolithodes yaldwyni . ^[4] It was also thought to occur in the southwestern Tasman Sea, but this was also determined to be a new species called Neolithodes flindersi . ^{[13] [14]}

Taxonomy

Neolithodes brodiei was described in 1970 by carcinologists Elliot Watson Dawson and John Cameron Yaldwyn from an ovigerous female holotype found on the Campbell Plateau. ^[15] Its specific name "brodiei" is in recognition of James William Brodie, then-Director of the New Zealand Oceanographic Institute. ^[16]

Along with N. flindersi , N. indicus , and N. nipponensis , it belongs to a subgroup of Neolithodes defined by carcinologist Shane T. Ahyong as having "numerous secondary spinules on the carapace and pereopods in addition to the major spines; convex dorsal margins of the cheliped dactylus; and compressed, flattened meri of the walking legs". ^{[17] [18]} By contrast, it is markedly different from N. bronwynae , the only other Neolithodes known to live in New Zealand waters. ^[4]

See also

• List of crabs of New Zealand

Notes

1. Excluding the rostrum, this is 165.5 mm (6.52 in). ^[7]

References

1. Funnell et al. 2023, p. 36.
2. Yaldwyn & Dawson 1970, pp. 227–228.
3. "Brodie's king crab (NEB)". Fisheries New Zealand. Retrieved 13 May 2024.
4. Ahyong 2010b, p. 83.
5. Freeman et al. 2013, p. 13. sfn error: no target: CITEREFFreemanSchnadelMarshallGordon2013 (help)
6. Ahyong 2010b, p. 82.
7. Ahyong 2010b, p. 80.
8. Ahyong 2010b, pp. 28, 83.
9. Ke et al. 2022, p. 1. sfn error: no target: CITEREFKeRuofeiChenChen2022 (help)
10. Macpherson 2001, p. 799.
11. Ahyong 2010b, p. 96.
12. Thatje & Lörz 2004, p. 334.
13. Ahyong 2010a, p. 55. sfn error: no target: CITEREFAhyong2010a (help)
14. Ahyong 2010b, p. 185.
15. Dawson & Yaldwyn 1970, p. 227. sfn error: no target: CITEREFDawsonYaldwyn1970 (help)
16. Yaldwyn & Dawson 1970, pp. 228.
17. Ahyong 2010b, pp. 82–83.
18. Padate, Cubelio & Takeda 2020, p. 74.

Works cited

• Yaldwyn, John Cameron; Dawson, Elliot Watson (June 1970). "Diagnosis of a New Species of Neolithodes (Crustacea: Anomura: Lithodidae) from New Zealand (Note)" (PDF). New Zealand Journal of Marine and Freshwater Research. 4 (2): 227–228. Bibcode:1970NZJMF...4..227D. doi:10.1080/00288330.1970.9515341 . Retrieved 16 May 2020– via the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
• Macpherson, Enrique (2001). "New species and new records of lithodid crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda) from the southwestern and central Pacific Ocean" (PDF). Zoosystema . 23 (4): 797–805. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 August 2017 – via the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.
• Thatje, Sven; Lörz, Anne-Nina (10 November 2004). "First record of lithodid crabs from Antarctic waters off the Balleny Islands" (PDF). Polar Biology . 28 (4): 334–337. doi:10.1007/s00300-004-0686-1. Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 November 2017.
• Ahyong, Shane T. (18 February 2010). "Neolithodes flindersi, a new species of king crab from southeastern Australia (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae)". Zootaxa . 2362 (1): 55–62. doi:10.5281/zenodo.193654 – via ResearchGate.
• Ahyong, Shane T. (2010b). The Marine Fauna of New Zealand: King Crabs of New Zealand, Australia, and the Ross Sea (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae) (PDF). NIWA Biodiversity Memoirs. Vol. 123. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. pp. 74–83. ISBN   978-0478232851. LCCN   2010497356. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 February 2020.
• 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. ISBN   978-0478150322. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 April 2018. Retrieved 15 May 2020.
• Padate, Vinay; Cubelio, Sherine Sonia; Takeda, Masatsune (September 2020). "Description of a new species of deep-water king-crab (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) from the southeastern Arabian Sea". Zootaxa . 4845 (1): 71–82. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4845.1.5. PMID   33056786. S2CID   222823654. Archived (PDF) from the original on 13 November 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021– via ResearchGate.
• Ke, Zhixin; Li, Ruofei; Chen, Yu; Chen, Danting; Chen, Zhiyun; Xiping, Lian; Tan, Yehui (June 2022). "A preliminary study of macrofaunal communities and their carbon and nitrogen stable isotopes in the Haima cold seeps, South China Sea". Deep Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers . 184: 103774. Bibcode:2022DSRI..18403774K. doi:10.1016/j.dsr.2022.103774.
• Funnell, Greig; et al. (January 2023). Todd, Amanda (ed.). Conservation status of indigenous marine invertebrates in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021 (PDF) (Report). New Zealand Department of Conservation. p. 36. ISBN   978-1-99-118365-1 . Retrieved 19 March 2023.

External links

• Media related to Neolithodes brodiei at Wikimedia Commons
• Data related to Neolithodes brodiei at Wikispecies