Neolithodes asperrimus

{{Speciesbox

| image =

| genus = Neolithodes

| species = asperrimus

| authority = Barnard, 1947{{Cite journal|last=Bernard|first=K. H.|author-link=Keppel Harcourt Barnard|date=June 1946|title=Descriptions of new species of South African decapod Crustacea, with notes on synonymy and new records|url=https://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/26984/26984.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Annals and Magazine of Natural History|volume=11|issue=13|pages=361–392|doi=10.1080/00222934608654562|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160418005730/https://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/26984/26984.pdf|archive-date=18 April 2016|via=the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County}}

}}

Neolithodes asperrimus, also known as the rough stone crab,{{cite book|url=https://www.saeon.ac.za/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Field-Guide-to-SA-Offshore-Marine-Invertebrates_web-full-version_compressed.pdf|title=Field Guide to the Offshore Marine Invertebrates of South Africa|date=2018 |editor=Atkinson LJ, Sink KJ|publisher=Malachite Marketing and Media|page=189|isbn=978-1-86868-098-6|doi=10.15493/SAEON.PUB.10000001 |author1=Lara Atkinson |author2=Kerry Sink }}{{rp|27, 188}} is a species of large king crab native to the coast of Africa. It has been found in South Africa and Mauritania at depths of {{Convert|997–1862|m|ft}},{{Cite journal|last=Kensley|first=B. F.|date=June 1968|title=Deep Sea Decapod Crustacea from West of Cape Point, South Africa|url=https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/9974/iz_1968_Kensley_Deep_sea_decapod_Crustacea_from_west_of_Cape_Point.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Annals of the South African Museum|volume=50|issue=12|pages=282–324|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200517110859/https://repository.si.edu/bitstream/handle/10088/9974/iz_1968_Kensley_Deep_sea_decapod_Crustacea_from_west_of_Cape_Point.pdf|archive-date=17 May 2020}}{{Cite journal|last1=de Matos-Pita|first1=Susana S.|last2=Ramil|first2=Fran|last3=Ramos|first3=Ana|date=September 2018|title=Marine lobsters and lithodids (Crustacea: Decapoda) from Mauritanian deep-waters (NW Africa)|journal=Regional Studies in Marine Science|volume=23|pages=32–38|doi=10.1016/j.rsma.2018.01.001|bibcode=2018RSMS...23...32D |issn=2352-4855|quote=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}}{{Cite journal|last1=Muñoz|first1=Isabel|last2=García-Isarch|first2=Eva|date=11 June 2013|title=New occurrences of lithodid crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae) from the coasts of Africa, with the description of a new species of Paralomis White, 1856.|journal=Zootaxa|volume=3670|issue=1|pages=45–54|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.3670.1|pmid=26438920}} and Neolithodes aff. asperrimus has been found in Madagascar, Réunion, South Region of Brazil, Eastern Atlantic, and to Saldnha Bay.{{Cite journal|last=Macpherson|first=Enrique|date=1988|title=Lithodid crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda, Lithodidae) from Madagascar and La Reunión (SW Indian Ocean)|url=https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/41450/1/Macpherson_1988.pdf|journal=Bulletin du Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle|volume=10|issue=1|pages=117–133|issn=1280-9551|via=the Spanish National Research Council}}{{Cite journal|last1=Lianos|first1=L.|last2=Mollemberg|first2=M. C.|last3=Lima|first3=D. J. M.|last4=Santana|first4=W.|date=25 August 2017|title=New records of king crabs (Decapoda, Anomura, Lithodidae) from southern Brazil|journal=Crustaceana|volume=90|issue=7–10|pages=981–988|doi=10.1163/15685403-00003666|bibcode=2017Crust..90..981L }}https://brill.com/view/journals/cr/90/7-10/article-p981_14.pdf%3Fsrsltid%3DAfmBOorTfoDXyp4cSZjXA2JPYTa_Gowgxel_9ar8KrgiRKLKJz2-z6OQ&ved=2ahUKEwix0IHnq4KOAxUGS2wGHX39LUYQFnoECEEQAQ&usg=AOvVaw3Hchw34ewqSe24E9nGVOzm

Description

Neolithodes asperrimus has a dark red colour, with bright red on the larger spines. It has many large spines and numerous spinules covering its dorsal carapace; its chelipeds and walking legs are covered with numerous spinules and denticles, which are blunter in larger specimens. Males have been measured as large as {{cvt|195|mm|in}} long and {{cvt|189|mm|in}} wide; females reach a length of {{cvt|180|mm|in}} and width of {{cvt|156|mm|in}}. N. asperrimus has basal spine of rostrum extending from the corneas, shorter in large specimens. It has numerous spicules, which is large in juveniles but thick spicules in large specimens.{{Cite web |url=https://research.nhm.org/pdfs/12339/12339.pdf | title=Monografías de zoología marina | language=es | trans-title=Monographs on marine zoology

}}

The largest Neolithodes aff. asperrimus is a male, with a carapace length being measured as large as {{cvt|168|mm|in}} and a carapace width of {{cvt|136|mm|in}}. The appearance of N. aff. asperrimus has short spines or evenly long spines, in large adults; their spines are short and commonly broken. they have thick granules and very small blunt spines, the walking pair of legs are 2.5 times the carapace length or less. It differs from the larger Neolithodes asperrimus from Southern Africa. https://brill.com/view/journals/cr/90/7-10/article-p981_14.pdf%3Fsrsltid%3DAfmBOor74UMRiHFBEMbx4mbUJ2B3XGSzIQZvxadCGEGPnbCJea3fvYey&ved=2ahUKEwj4qoSaiYKOAxV0yTgGHfl4AXAQFnoECEUQAQ&usg=AOvVaw0ojibzkqSanmEKMOqiIzqL

== Molecular Phylogeny and Biology ==

Studies on the molecular phylogeny of the Lithodidae shows that N. asperrimus shares a close genetic relationship with Neolithodes duhameli. It is not a commercial species and has been incidentally caught in bottom trawls.https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=QzLZDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA83&dq=neolithodes+asperrimus&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiFjbDz4_-NAxWUoWMGHcqzC1YQ6AF6BAgMEAMhttps://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00114-018-1544-2#:~:text=Gene%20targets,;%20Armbruster%20and%20Korte%202006). Its syntype is a male; the specimen is measuring up to {{cvt|161|mm|in}} in carapace length, then {{cvt|155|mm|in}} wide; another species Neolithodes capensis is known to roam and inhabit In Cape Town, but it is differentiated by the appearance not being covered by small spicules.https://research.nhm.org/pdfs/12339/12339.pdf the largest ovigerous female reaches a carapace length of {{cvt|143|mm|in}}. {{Cite book |last=Emmerson |first=W. D. |url=https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=QzLZDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA83&dq=neolithodes+asperrimus&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiL8dOHgYKOAxW5V2wGHdHeOiEQ6AF6BAgEEAM |title=A Guide to, and Checklist for, the Decapoda of Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique (Volume 2) |date=2017-01-06 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-6143-4 |language=en}}

Taxonomy

Neolithodes asperrimus was described in 1947 by Keppel Harcourt Barnard, it is the fifth Neolithodes species and is among a subgroup of Neolithodes species that includes Neolithodes agassizii, Neolithodes brodiei, and Neolithodes indicus. {{Cite journal |last=Dawson |first=Elliot |title=Neolithodes brodiei n. sp. .pdf |url=https://www.academia.edu/33234870/Neolithodes_brodiei_n_sp_pdf |doi=10.1080/00288330.1970.9515341}}{{Cite book |last=Emmerson |first=W. D. |url=https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=QzLZDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA83&dq=neolithodes+asperrimus&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiL8dOHgYKOAxW5V2wGHdHeOiEQ6AF6BAgEEAM |title=A Guide to, and Checklist for, the Decapoda of Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique (Volume 2) |date=2017-01-06 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-6143-4 |language=en}} it's name "asperrimus" derives from greek latin, "asper" so called "rough" or "thorny", and "rimus" or "imus" means "very thorny", but the name suggests it is meaning to "Rough". {{Cite book |last=Emmerson |first=W. D. |url=https://books.google.com.ph/books?id=QzLZDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA83&dq=neolithodes+asperrimus&hl=en&newbks=1&newbks_redir=0&source=gb_mobile_search&ovdme=1&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiL8dOHgYKOAxW5V2wGHdHeOiEQ6AF6BAgEEAM |title=A Guide to, and Checklist for, the Decapoda of Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique (Volume 2) |date=2017-01-06 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=978-1-4438-6143-4 |language=en}}

Parasites

They are known to be parasitised by

Iphigenella acanthopoda, a species

of Gammaridea.{{Cite journal|last1=Vader|first1=Wim|last2=Tandberg|first2=Anne Helene S.|date=July 2015|title=Amphipods as Associates of Other Crustacea: A Survey|journal=Journal of Crustacean Biology|volume=35|issue=4|pages=522–532|doi=10.1163/1937240X-00002343|doi-access=free|bibcode=2015JCBio..35..522V }}

References

External links

{{Wikispecies inline|2=Neolithodes asperrimus}}

Category:King crabs

Category:Crustaceans described in 1947

Category:Anomura of the Atlantic Ocean

Category:Anomura of the Indian Ocean

Category:Crustaceans of South Africa

Category:Taxa named by Keppel Harcourt Barnard

Category:Crustaceans of Brazil