| Neolithodes indicus | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Anomura |
| Family: | Lithodidae |
| Genus: | Neolithodes |
| Species: | N. indicus |
| Binomial name | |
| Neolithodes indicus Padate, Cubelio & Takeda, 2020 [1] | |
Neolithodes indicus is a species of king crab found in the southeastern Arabian Sea. [1]
Neolithodes indicus has a pyriform carapace whose dorsal surface is heavily populated with small spinules inbetween major, conical spines; at the longest in one of its female paratypes, it has been measured at 188.3 mm (7.41 in) in length and 169.7 mm (6.68 in) in width. [1] Its rostrum is about 3–10% as long as the postrostral carapace in large specimens. [1] Like the carapace, its chelipeds and walking legs are covered in small spinules, and its rear walking legs – which are the longest – have four major spines. [1] The chelipeds and walking legs are lighter in colouration than the carapace, however, which is a clay-like reddish-brown. [1] Its chelae have several small spines and are lined with rows of golden setae. [1]
On the underside, its short, cylindrical fifth set of legs are tucked under its abdomen and covered in bristles. [1] Except for the first segment which is sparsely populated with tubercles, the abdomen is covered in numerous evenly spaced spinules. [1] The median and submedian plates of the second segment of its abdomen bear large spines, as do the margins of the second through fifth segments. [1]
Neolithodes indicus is known from three female specimens collected in the southeastern Arabian Sea off the coast of Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala, India from 2013 to 2014. [1] These three specimens were found at depths between 1,064–1,338 m (3,491–4,390 ft) in the mid-continental slope on a bathymetric protrusion known as the Terrace of Trivandrum. [1]
Neolithodes indicus was described in 2020 by carcinologists Vinay Padate, Sherine Sonia Cubelio, and Masatsune Takeda. [1] Its genus name "Neolithodes" is derived from Greek and Latin and means "new stone-crab", [2] while its species name "indicus" is Latin for "Indian". [1] It is likely conspecific with Neolithodes alcocoki, a nomen nudum suggested in the 1980s, [1] and it was originally identified erroneously as Lithodes agassizii [a] by A.R.S. Anderson in 1896. [1] [3] N. indicus most closely resembles N. brodiei from New Zealand, N. flindersi from southeastern Australia, and N. nipponensis from Japan and Taiwan. [1]
Data related to Neolithodes indicus at Wikispecies
