''Neolithodes'' is a genus of king crabs, in the family Lithodidae. They are found in all major

oceans The ocean (also the sea or the world ocean) is the body of salt water that covers approximately 70.8% of the surface of Earth and contains 97% of Earth's water. An ocean can also refer to any of the large bodies of water into which the worl ...

, both in high and low

latitude In geography, latitude is a coordinate that specifies the north– south position of a point on the surface of the Earth or another celestial body. Latitude is given as an angle that ranges from –90° at the south pole to 90° at the north pol ...

s. Although there are records from water as shallow as in cold regions, most records are much deeper, typically , with the deepest confirmed at . They are fairly large to large crabs that typically are reddish in color and spiny, although the size of these spines varies depending on species (from long in species like '' N. grimaldii'' to very short in species like ''N. flindersi'', and tending to be more pronounced in small than in large individuals). Various

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 ...

organisms such as barnacles are sometimes attached to their carapace and legs, and small

commensal Commensalism is a long-term biological interaction (symbiosis) in which members of one species gain benefits while those of the other species neither benefit nor are harmed. This is in contrast with mutualism, in which both organisms benefit fro ...

amphipods may live in their carapace. They are occasionally the victims of

parasitic Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson ha ...

snailfish of the genus '' Careproctus'', which lay their egg mass in the

gill A gill () is a respiratory organ that many aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow respiration on land provided they are ...

chamber of the crab, forming a mobile "home" until they hatch. Conversely, some juvenile ''Neolithodes'' have a commensal relationship with ''

Scotoplanes ''Scotoplanes'' is a genus of deep-sea sea cucumbers of the family Elpidiidae. Its species are commonly known as sea pigs. Locomotion Members of the Elpidiidae have particularly enlarged tube "feet" that have taken on a leg-like appearance, usi ...

'' sea cucumbers. To protect itself from large predators, the young crab hides under the sea cucumber. The word ''Neolithodes'' derives from the

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece 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 ...

, meaning ''new'', and ''

Lithodes ''Lithodes'' is a genus of king crabs. Today there are about 30 recognized species, but others formerly included in this genus have been moved to '' Neolithodes'' and '' Paralomis''. They are found in oceans around the world, ranging from shallow ...

'', a closely related genus of king crab. The name of the latter genus originates from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...

, meaning ''stone like''.

Species

The following species are in this genus: *'' Neolithodes agassizii'' (

Smith Smith may refer to: People * Metalsmith, or simply smith, a craftsman fashioning tools or works of art out of various metals * Smith (given name) * Smith (surname), a family name originating in England, Scotland and Ireland ** List of people wi ...

, 1882) *'' Neolithodes asperrimus'' (

Barnard Barnard is a version of the surname Bernard, which is a French and West Germanic masculine given name and surname. The surname means as tough as a bear, Bar(Bear)+nard/hard(hardy/tough) __NOTOC__ People Some of the people bearing the surname Ba ...

, 1947) *'' Neolithodes brodiei'' (Dawson & Yaldwyn, 1970) *'' Neolithodes bronwynae'' (Ahyong, 2010) *'' Neolithodes capensis'' (

Stebbing Stebbing is a small village in the Uttlesford district of northern Essex, England. The village is situated north of the ancient Roman road Stane Street. It is from the nearest railway station (), and from nearest airport (London Stansted). Th ...

, 1905) *''

Neolithodes diomedeae ''Neolithodes diomedeae'' is a species of king crab which is found in the eastern Pacific Ocean, the southwestern Atlantic Ocean, and the Bellingshausen and Scotia Seas in the Southern Ocean. Diet ''Neolithodes diomedeae'' are opportunistic, ...

'' (Benedict, 1894) *'' Neolithodes duhameli'' (Macpherson, 2004) *'' Neolithodes flindersi'' (Ahyong, 2010) *'' Neolithodes grimaldii'' ( Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1894) *'' Neolithodes indicus'' (Padate, Cubelio & Takeda, 2020) *'' Neolithodes nipponensis'' (Sakai 1971) *'' Neolithodes vinogradovi'' (Macpherson, 1988) *'' Neolithodes yaldwyni'' (Ahyong & Dawson, 2006)

References

External links

* * {{Taxonbar, from=Q4487123 King crabs Taxa named by Eugène Louis Bouvier Decapod genera