''Neolithodes nipponensis'' (, 'Japanese spiny crab')
[ is a species of king crab that is found in ]Japan
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...
and Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
.
Description
''Neolithodes nipponensis'' has a rounded pentagonal 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 ...
whose margins are covered in several dozen sharp spines.cheliped
A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a pincer-shaped organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods. The name comes from Ancient Greek , through Neo-Latin '. The plural form is chelae. Legs bearing a chela are called chelipeds ...
s are similarly covered in prickles, but these are mixed in with longer spines angled substantially away the from perpendicular.
Distribution
In 2001, an article was 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 ...
'' which reported ''N. nipponensis'' in Fiji
Fiji, officially the Republic of Fiji, is an island country in Melanesia, part of Oceania in the South Pacific Ocean. It lies about north-northeast of New Zealand. Fiji consists of an archipelago of more than 330 islands—of which about ...
.Scientia Marina
''Scientia Marina'', formerly ''Investigación Pesquera'', is a peer-reviewed academic journal on marine research published by Institut de Ciències del Mar de Barcelona ( CSIC) since 1955. The journal is abstracted and indexed in the Science Cit ...
'' which reported it in the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands, also known simply as the Solomons,John Prados, ''Islands of Destiny'', Dutton Caliber, 2012, p,20 and passim is an island country consisting of six major islands and over 1000 smaller islands in Melanesia, part of Oceania, t ...
. However, both of these appear to be a yet-undescribed species.
Taxonomy
"''Neolithodes''" is derived from Greek
Greek may refer to:
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...
and Latin
Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...
and means "new stone-crab",Nippon
Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea in th ...
" with the Latin suffix " -ensis" – means "of or from Japan".
See also
* '' Neolithodes flindersi'', a species which closely resembles ''N. nipponensis''
References
External links
Image
at the Taiwan Encyclopedia of Life
{{Portal bar, Crustaceans, Marine life
King crabs
Crustaceans described in 1971
Anomura of the Pacific Ocean
Crustaceans of Japan
Crustaceans of Taiwan