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Type: Article
Published: 2020-09-01
Page range: 71–82
Abstract views: 105
PDF downloaded: 5

Description of a new species of deep-water king-crab (Crustacea: Decapoda: Anomura) from the southeastern Arabian Sea

Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, Atal Bhavan, Puthuvype, Kochi 682508, India.
Centre for Marine Living Resources and Ecology, Ministry of Earth Sciences, Government of India, Atal Bhavan, Puthuvype, Kochi 682508, India.
Department of Zoology, National Museum of Nature and Science, 4–1–1 Amakubo, Tsukuba, Ibaraki 305–0005, Japan.
Crustacea Lithodidae Neolithodes taxonomy India

Abstract

A new species of the deep-water king-crab genus Neolithodes A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1894 (Anomura: Lithodidae) is described herein from the southeastern Arabian Sea (1064–1338 m depth). Neolithodes indicus sp. nov. shows morphological proximity with three congeneric species, N. brodiei Dawson & Yaldwyn, 1970, N. flindersi Ahyong, 2010a and N. nipponensis Sakai, 1971 in bearing less numerous secondary spines on the carapace, the dactylus of the chelipeds with a convex dorsal margin and dorsoventrally compressed meri of the pereopods 2–4. The new species can be easily distinguished from these congeners in possessing the less densely spinulose carapace and appendages, short rostrum, simple antennal scaphocerite, the absence of large spines on the flexor margins of the pereopods 2–3 meri, and a stouter pereopod 4 propodus.

 

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