Neolithodes nipponensis
{{Short description|Species of king crab}}
{{Speciesbox
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Neolithodes nipponensis is a species of king crab which is found in Japan and Taiwan.{{cite journal |last=Sakai |first=Tune |year=1971 |title=Illustrations of 15 species of crabs of the family Lithodidae, two of which are new to science |url= |journal=Researches on Crustacea |volume=4–5 |pages=1–49 |doi=10.18353/rcustacea.4.5.0_1 |issn=2433-0973 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal|last=Ahyong|first=Shane T.|author-link=Shane T. Ahyong|date=2010-02-18|title=Neolithodes flindersi, a new species of king crab from southeastern Australia (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae)|url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/289804861|journal=Zootaxa|volume=2362|issue=1|pages=55–62|doi=10.5281/zenodo.193654|access-date=2020-05-21|via=ResearchGate}}{{Cite journal|last1=Macpherson|first1=Enrique|last2=Chan|first2=Tin-Yam|date=2008-11-05|title=Some lithodid crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae) from Taiwan and adjacent waters, with the description of one new species from Guam|url=https://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/30641/30641.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Zootaxa|volume=1924|issue=1|pages=43–52|doi=10.11646/zootaxa.1924.1.2|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170808234116/https://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/30641/30641.pdf|archive-date=2017-08-08|access-date=2020-05-21|via=the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County}} It has been found at depths from {{Convert|200–1752|m|ft}}.
Appearance
N. nipponensis has a rounded pentagonal carapace whose margins are covered in several dozen sharp spines. It has a legspan of approximately {{convert|108|cm|in|abbr=on}}, and its walking legs are densely covered with sharp prickles. Its chelipeds are similarly covered in prickles, but these are mixed in with longer spines angled substantially away the from perpendicular. It has a very short rostrum of approximately {{frac|1|20}} the length of its carapace. Its underside has seven abdominal segments which are well-defined and covered with prickles.
In the Southern Pacific
In 2001, an article was published in Zoosystema which reported N. nipponensis in Fiji.{{Cite journal|last=Macpherson|first=Enrique|date=2001|title=New species and new records of lithodid crabs (Crustacea, Decapoda) from the southwestern and Central Pacific Ocean|url=https://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/12131/12131.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Zoosystema|volume=23|issue=4|pages=797–805|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170813041713/https://decapoda.nhm.org/pdfs/12131/12131.pdf|archive-date=2017-08-13|access-date=2020-05-21|via=the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County}} Likewise, in 2003, an article was published in Scientia Marina which reported it in the Solomon Islands.{{Cite journal|last=Macpherson|first=Enrique|date=2003|title=Some lithodid crabs (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae) from the Solomon Islands (SW Pacific Ocean), with the description of a new species*|url=https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/2419/1/som.pdf|url-status=live|journal=Scientia Marina|volume=67|issue=4|pages=413–418|doi=10.3989/scimar.2003.67n4413 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180722120230/https://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/2419/1/som.pdf|archive-date=2018-07-22|access-date=2020-05-21|via=the Spanish National Research Council}} However, both of these appear to be a yet-undescribed species.{{Cite book|last=Ahyong|first=Shane T.|url=https://docs.niwa.co.nz/library/public/Memoir%20123_The%20Marine%20Fauna%20of%20New%20Zealand_King%20Crabs.pdf#page=74|title=The Marine Fauna of New Zealand: King Crabs of New Zealand, Australia, and the Ross Sea (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae)|publisher=National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research|year=2010|isbn=978-0478232851|series=NIWA Diversity Memoirs|volume=123|pages=73, 96|lccn=2010497356|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200215075140/https://docs.niwa.co.nz/library/public/Memoir%20123_The%20Marine%20Fauna%20of%20New%20Zealand_King%20Crabs.pdf|archive-date=2020-02-15|url-status=live}}
Etymology
"Neolithodes" is derived from Greek and Latin and means "new stone-crab",{{cite book|last=Emmerson|first=W. D.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=QzLZDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA93|title=A Guide to, and Checklist for, the Decapoda of Namibia, South Africa and Mozambique|publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing|isbn=978-1-4438-9097-7|volume=2|publication-date=July 2016|pages=93}} while "nipponensis" – "Nippon" with the Latin suffix "-ensis" – means "of or from Japan".
See also
- Neolithodes flindersi, a species which closely resembles N. nipponensis
References
{{reflist}}
External links
- {{Wikispecies inline|2=Neolithodes nipponensis}}
- [https://taieol.tw/pages/126012 Image] at the Taiwan Encyclopedia of Life
{{Lithodidae}}
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{{Portal bar|Crustaceans|Marine life}}
Category:Crustaceans described in 1971