''Neolithodes yaldwyni'' is a species of king crab that is found in the

Ross Sea The Ross Sea is a deep bay of the Southern Ocean in Antarctica, between Victoria Land and Marie Byrd Land and within the Ross Embayment, and is the southernmost sea on Earth. It derives its name from the British explorer James Clark Ross who ...

from depths of . It had previously been misidentified as ''

Neolithodes brodiei ''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 commo ...

'', and it closely resembles ''

Neolithodes capensis ''Neolithodes capensis'', also known as cape stone crab, is a species of king crab that is found in the Southern Ocean and the western Indian Ocean. It has been found to a depth of . They have been found near Cape Point, around the Crozet and K ...

''.

Description

''Neolithodes yaldwyni'' is deep-red in colour. It 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 ...

which has been measured as large as in length and in width. The dorsal surface has thick, conical spines sparsely interspersed with granules. The second segment of the

abdomen 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 ...

is covered in long spines toward the middle and teeth at the outer edge. The third through fifth abdominal segments are covered with multiple spines or nodules in males and with stout, well-spaced spines in females. Its appearance is nearly identical to that of '' N. capensis'' with the exceptions of its walking legs, which feature proportionally longer dactyli, and its spines, which are more pronounced.

Distribution

''Neolithodes yaldwyni'' is known from Antarctica's

at depths between . A record from the

Bellingshausen Sea The Bellingshausen Sea is an area along the west side of the Antarctic Peninsula between 57°18'W and 102°20'W, west of Alexander Island, east of Cape Flying Fish on Thurston Island, and south of Peter I Island (there the southern ''Vostokkyste ...

initially attributed to '' N. capensis'' may also be referable to ''N. yaldwyni''. Along with '' Paralomis birsteini'', it is believed to be an

invasive species An invasive species is an introduced species that harms its new environment. Invasive species adversely affect habitats and bioregions, causing ecological, environmental, and/or economic damage. The term can also be used for native spec ...

, and there are fears that

global warming Present-day climate change includes both global warming—the ongoing increase in global average temperature—and its wider effects on Earth's climate system. Climate change in a broader sense also includes previous long-term changes ...

could allow it to enter the

Antarctic continental shelf The Antarctic continental shelf is a submerged piece of the Antarctic continent that underlies a portion of the Southern Ocean — the ocean which surrounds Antarctica. The shelf is generally narrow and unusually deep, its edge lying at depths ave ...

within the coming decades and damage the ecosystem's native fauna. The invertebrate macrofauna of the Antarctic continental shelf are largely either slow-moving or completely

sessile Sessility, or sessile, may refer to: * Sessility (motility), organisms which are not able to move about * Sessility (botany), flowers or leaves that grow directly from the stem or peduncle of a plant * Sessility (medicine), tumors and polyps that ...

and are not adequately adapted to the shell-crushing predators which typically live deeper in the ocean, meaning that they could be uniquely vulnerable to king crabs were they to emerge from the

bathyal zone The bathypelagic zone or bathyal zone (from Greek βαθύς (bathýs), deep) is the part of the open ocean that extends from a depth of below the ocean surface. It lies between the mesopelagic above and the abyssopelagic below. The bathypela ...

. This hypothesis has been disputed under the contention that, rather than having been driven out of the Antarctic 40 to 15 million years ago and only now returning to colonise it, king crabs have "a long and enduring existence in the region" and that, if they were to colonise the shelf, their diets may not pose much risk to sedentary invertebrates.

Taxonomy

''Neolithodes yaldwyni'' was first described in 2006 by carcinologists Shane T. Ahyong and Elliot W. Dawson. Along with '' N. capensis'', '' N. diomedeae'', '' N. grimaldii'', and '' N. vinogradovi'', 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 ...

'' in which "the carapace and alkinglegs at most bear scattered, minute secondary spines or tubercles amongst the primary dorsal spines". 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 ...

"''yaldwyni''" honours New Zealander carcinologist John Cameron Yaldwyn.

Notes

References

Works cited

* * * * * *

External links

* {{Portal bar, Crustaceans, Marine life King crabs Crustaceans described in 2006 Anomura of the Southern Ocean Taxa named by Shane T. Ahyong Taxa named by Elliot Watson Dawson