''Neolithodes brodiei'', also known as Brodie's king crab, is a species of king crab that is native to New Zealand and its adjacent waters. It lives at a depth of but is typically found within a range of . It is the most widespread and common king crab in New Zealand waters, and the New Zealand

Department of Conservation Department may refer to: * Departmentalization, division of a larger organization into parts with specific responsibility Government and military *Department (administrative division), a geographical and administrative division within a country, ...

has classified it as "Not Threatened" in 2013 and 2023.

Description

''Neolithodes brodiei'' has a pyriform

carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the unde ...

and is deep-red in colour. The dorsal surface of its carapace is densely armed with granules or small spinules and dotted with longer, major spines. This pattern extends to the second

abdominal The abdomen (colloquially called the gut, belly, tummy, midriff, tucky, or stomach) is the front part of the torso between the thorax (chest) and pelvis in humans and in other vertebrates. The area occupied by the abdomen is called the abdominal ...

segment, the walking legs, and all but the very tips of the chelipeds. Its trifid

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit ** podium * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ...

accounts for anywhere from about 10–20% of the carapace length, and the median spine is dorsally inclined. ''N. brodiei'' is the second-largest king crab known from

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

behind '' Lithodes aotearoa''. Its carapace, 0.99–1.14x as long as it is wide, has been measured as large as in postorbital length and in width. The chelipeds, though dimorphic, are similar in length: both approximately 1.2–1.3x the postorbital carapace length in males and approximately 1.15–1.2x in females. Its first pair of walking legs are the shortest, and its third pair are the longest; in males and females respectively, the third walking leg measures up to 2.94x or 2.62x the postorbital carapace length.

Distribution

''Neolithodes brodiei'' lacks a known presence beyond depths of about , meaning it likely lives only on New Zealand's continental shelf and

continental slope A continental margin is the outer edge of continental crust abutting oceanic crust under coastal waters. It is one of the three major zones of the ocean floor, the other two being deep-ocean basins and mid-ocean ridges. The continental margi ...

. It has allegedly been found in the Haima

cold seep A cold seep (sometimes called a cold vent) is an area of the ocean floor where seepage of fluids rich in hydrogen sulfide, methane, and other hydrocarbons occurs, often in the form of a brine pool. ''Cold'' does not mean that the temperature ...

s in the northwestern

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

at depths of approximately , but it may only occasionally visit the ecosystem. In 2001, a paper published in ''

Zoosystema ''Zoosystema'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal published by the National Museum of Natural History, France (''Muséum national d'histoire naturelle''), covering research in animal biodiversity. Specific subjects within the journal's scope in ...

'' claimed to have found a specimen of ''N. brodiei'' in

Vanuatu Vanuatu ( or ; ), officially the Republic of Vanuatu (; ), is an island country in Melanesia located in the South Pacific Ocean. The archipelago, which is of volcanic origin, is east of northern Australia, northeast of New Caledonia, east o ...

; however, this was later determined to be a yet-undescribed species. Likewise, a 2005 paper in ''

Polar Biology ''Polar Biology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed scientific journal covering the biology of the polar regions. It is published by Springer Science+Business Media. According to the ''Journal Citation Reports'', the journal has a 2015 impact factor of 1. ...

'' claimed to have found four specimens off the

Balleny Islands The Balleny Islands () are a series of uninhabited islands in the Southern Ocean extending from 66°15' to 67°35'S and 162°30' to 165°00'E. The group extends for about in a northwest–southeast direction. The islands are heavily glaciate ...

in the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the world ocean, generally taken to be south of 60th parallel south, 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is the seco ...

, but these were misidentified and were later determined to be a new species called '' Neolithodes yaldwyni''. It was also thought to occur in the southwestern

Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abel Janszoon Tasman, who in 1642 wa ...

, but this was also determined to be a new species called ''

Neolithodes flindersi ''Neolithodes flindersi'' is a species of king crab found in southeastern Australia. They have been found at depths of but typically appear from . They most closely resemble '' Neolithodes brodiei'' and '' Neolithodes nipponensis''. Appearan ...

''.

Taxonomy

''Neolithodes brodiei'' was described in 1970 by carcinologists Elliot Watson Dawson and John Cameron Yaldwyn from an ovigerous female

holotype A holotype (Latin: ''holotypus'') is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of s ...

found on the

Campbell Plateau The Campbell Plateau is a large oceanic plateau south of New Zealand and the Chatham Rise. It originated in the Gondwanan breakup and is part of Zealandia, a largely submerged continent. The above sea level parts of the plateau — the Bount ...

. Its

specific name Specific name may refer to: * in Database management systems, a system-assigned name that is unique within a particular database In taxonomy, either of these two meanings, each with its own set of rules: * Specific name (botany), the two-part (bino ...

"''brodiei''" is in recognition of

James William Brodie James William Brodie (7 October 1920 – 11 April 2009) was a New Zealand geologist, oceanographer and amateur historian and philatelist. Biography Born in Bebington, Cheshire, England, on 7 October 1920, Brodie was the son of Isabella Brodie ...

, then-Director of the New Zealand Oceanographic Institute. Along with '' N. flindersi'', '' N. indicus'', and '' N. nipponensis'', it belongs to a subgroup of ''

Neolithodes ''Neolithodes'' is a genus of king crabs in the subfamily Lithodinae. They are found in all major oceans, both in high and low latitudes. Although there are records from water as shallow as in cold regions, most records are much deeper, typical ...

'' 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". By contrast, it is markedly different from '' N. bronwynae'', the only other ''Neolithodes'' known to live in New Zealand waters.

Notes

References

Works cited

* * * * * * * * *

External links

* * {{Portal bar, Crustaceans, Marine life King crabs Crustaceans described in 1970 Marine crustaceans of New Zealand Taxa named by Elliot Watson Dawson Taxa named by John Cameron Yaldwyn Anomura of the Pacific Ocean