''Ibacus ciliatus'' is a species of

slipper lobster Slipper lobsters are a family (Scyllaridae) of about 90 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda clade Reptantia, found in all warm oceans and seas. They are not true lobsters, but are more closely related to spiny lobsters and furry lo ...

from the north-west Pacific Ocean.

Description and life cycle

''Ibacus ciliatus'' is a broad slipper lobster, with a carapace length of up to , and a total length up to . It is typically a uniform reddish brown in colour; the tail fan (

uropod Uropods are posterior appendages found on a wide variety of crustaceans. They typically have functions in locomotion. Definition Uropods are often defined as the appendages of the last body segment of a crustacean. An alternative definition sugge ...

s and

telson The telson () is the posterior-most division of the body of an arthropod. Depending on the definition, the telson is either considered to be the final segment of the arthropod body, or an additional division that is not a true segment on accou ...

) can be a browner or a yellower hue. ''I. ciliatus'' is very similar to '' Ibacus pubescens'', and can only be distinguished by the lack of

pubescence Puberty is the process of physical changes through which a child's body matures into an adult body capable of sexual reproduction. It is initiated by hormonal signals from the brain to the gonads: the ovaries in a girl, the testes in a boy. I ...

(hairiness) on the

carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), 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 tor ...

, and by the number of teeth along the edges of the carapace; in ''I. ciliatus'' there are typically 11 (occasionally 10 or 12), while in ''I. pubescens'' there are typically 12 (ranging from 11 to 14). The

larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...

of ''I. ciliatus'' are the typical

phyllosoma The phyllosoma is the larval stage of spiny, slipper and coral lobsters (Palinuridae, Scyllaridae and Synaxidae), and represents one of the most significant characteristics that unify them into the taxon Achelata. Its body is remarkably thin, f ...

larvae found in all slipper lobsters and

spiny lobster Spiny lobsters, also known as langustas, langouste, or rock lobsters, are a family (Palinuridae) of about 60 species of achelate crustaceans, in the Decapoda Reptantia. Spiny lobsters are also, especially in Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, So ...

s. The first phyllosoma is around across, with later stages, sometimes known as "giant phyllosomas", reaching up to .

Distribution and ecology

''Ibacus ciliatus'' occurs in the western

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

from the

Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...

to the

Korean Peninsula Korea ( ko, 한국, or , ) is a peninsular region in East Asia. Since 1945, it has been divided at or near the 38th parallel, with North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea) comprising its northern half and South Korea (Republic o ...

and southern

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

(south of Niigata on the west coast and

Tokyo Bay is a bay located in the southern Kantō region of Japan, and spans the coasts of Tokyo, Kanagawa Prefecture, and Chiba Prefecture. Tokyo Bay is connected to the Pacific Ocean by the Uraga Channel. The Tokyo Bay region is both the most populous a ...

on the east coast). It is the only species of ''

Ibacus ''Ibacus'' is a genus of slipper lobsters, including commercially important species such as the Balmain bug Balmain may refer to: Places * Balmain, New South Wales, a suburb of Sydney, Australia * Electoral district of Balmain, an electoral divi ...

'' not known to occur around the coast of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. ''Ibacus ciliatus'' lives on soft substrates at depths of , at temperatures of .

Fishery and conservation

Records of a

fishery Fishery can mean either the enterprise of raising or harvesting fish and other aquatic life; or more commonly, the site where such enterprise takes place ( a.k.a. fishing ground). Commercial fisheries include wild fisheries and fish farms, both ...

for ''I. ciliatus'' reach back to 1830, when Heinrich Bürger noted that it was on sale daily in the fish markets around

Nagasaki is the capital and the largest city of Nagasaki Prefecture on the island of Kyushu in Japan. It became the sole port used for trade with the Portuguese and Dutch during the 16th through 19th centuries. The Hidden Christian Sites in the ...

. It is now harvested throughout its range, although there is little data on the quantities being caught. FAO fisheries statistics report captures of around for most years since 2000, with an increase to for 2010. Due to the limited knowledge of the species, it has been assessed as ''

Data Deficient A data deficient (DD) species is one which has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as offering insufficient information for a proper assessment of conservation status to be made. This does not necessaril ...

'' on the

IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...

Taxonomy

''Ibacus ciliatus'' was first described in 1824 by

Philipp Franz von Siebold Philipp Franz Balthasar von Siebold (17 February 1796 – 18 October 1866) was a German physician, botanist and traveler. He achieved prominence by his studies of Japanese flora (plants), flora and fauna (animals), fauna and the introduction of ...

in ' ("On the Natural History of the State of Japan"), under the name "''Scyllarus ciliatus''". His

holotype A holotype is a single physical example (or illustration) of an organism, known to have been used when the species (or lower-ranked taxon) was formally described. It is either the single such physical example (or illustration) or one of several ...

was deposited at the

Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie The Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie (National Museum of Natural History) was a museum on the Rapenburg in Leiden, the Netherlands. It was founded in 1820 by Royal Decree from a merger of several existing collections. This happened on the initi ...

in the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

. It was transferred to the genus ''

'' in 1841 by

Wilhem de Haan Wilhem de Haan (7 February 1801 in Amsterdam – 15 April 1855 in Leiden) was a Dutch zoologist. He specialised in the study of insects and crustaceans, and was the first keeper of invertebrates at the Rijksmuseum in Leiden, now Naturalis. He was ...

. A former

subspecies In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...

of ''I. ciliatus'', "''I. ciliatus pubescens''", is now accorded the rank of full species, as '' Ibacus pubescens''. The official Japanese name for the species is , meaning "fan lobster". In

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

, it is known as ', while in the

, the names ' ( Hiligaynon and Cebuano) and ' ( Surigaonon) are used. The English vernacular name preferred by the

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

(FAO) is "Japanese fan lobster".

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q5499471 Achelata Crustaceans described in 1824 Edible crustaceans