Lithodes aotearoa

Lithodes aotearoa
	Juvenile above, adult specimen below
Conservation status
	; Not Threatened (NZ TCS)
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Malacostraca
Order:	Decapoda
Suborder:	Pleocyemata
Infraorder:	Anomura
Family:	Lithodidae
Genus:	Lithodes
Species:	L. aotearoa
Binomial name
	Lithodes aotearoa; Ahyong, 2010

Holotype site: NIWA 34924^[2]

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

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 195.0 mm (7.68 in) in postrostral length and 199.1 mm (7.84 in) in width in males. In females, the largest carapace measured 190.5 mm (7.50 in) in postrostral length and 183.9 mm (7.24 in) in width.^[2]^[a] They are the largest lithodids known from New Zealand.^[2]

Notes

^ Postrostral length excludes the rostrum. Including the rostrum, the carapace is 240.0 mm (9.45 in) long in the male and 230.5 mm (9.07 in) in the female.^[2]

References

^ ^a ^b 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.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ 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. Vol. 123. ISBN 978-0-478-23286-8. Wikidata Q63247008.

External links

Media related to Lithodes aotearoa at Wikimedia Commons
Data related to Lithodes aotearoa at Wikispecies

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[3] Postrostral length excludes the rostrum. Including the rostrum, the carapace is 240.0 mm (9.45 in) long in the male and 230.5 mm (9.07 in) in the female.^[2]

[NZTCS-1] 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.

[Ahyong_2010-2] ^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f ^g ^h ⁱ 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. Vol. 123. ISBN 978-0-478-23286-8. Wikidata Q63247008.

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[2]

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