''Lithodes santolla'', also known as the southern king crab, Chilean king crab or ''centolla'', is a

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

of king crab, found off southern South America including the offshore Falkland Islands. On the Pacific side, it is found in Chile from Talcahuano to Cape Horn. On the Atlantic side, it is found off Argentina and Uruguay. It lives in the

benthic zone The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from the Ancient Greek word (), meaning "the depths". ...

at depths of , with Uruguayan records being exclusively from great depths. In Chile, it mostly lives at depths to , but south of 40° S it can be found to . It is a large crab that can reach up to in carapace length, and it is the target of commercial fishing.

Physiology

''L. santolla'' lives in cold-temperature and subantarctic waters. Ideal temperatures for its larval and juvenile development range from , and its larval stages are nonfeeding. It experiences respiratory acidosis and hyperglycemia after prolonged exposure to air; however, these levels eventually return to normal after reimmersion, making it capable of withstanding long periods of aerial exposure with no detrimental effect on mortality.

Fishing

The population of ''Lithodes santolla'' has seen a dramatic decline due to commercial fishing. The lucrative centolla fishery around Tierra del Fuego led to an incident in August 1967 when the Argentine schooner ' was found fishing from Gable Island and had to be escorted out of Chilean waters by the Chilean patrol boat '. This event among many others led to the Beagle crisis in the late 1970s. The United States

Food and Drug Administration The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA or US FDA) is a List of United States federal agencies, federal agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Health and Human Services. The FDA is respo ...

lists the centolla crab and southern king crab as two separate species: ''Lithodes antarcticus'' and ''Lithodes santolla'' respectively. Other sources consider ''Lithodes antarcticus'' to be a synonym of ''Lithodes santolla''.

References

External links

* * {{Portal bar, Crustaceans, Marine life King crabs Crustaceans of the eastern Pacific Ocean Anomura of the Pacific Ocean Anomura of the Atlantic Ocean Western South American coastal fauna Crustaceans described in 1782 Crustaceans of Argentina Crustaceans of Chile Fauna of Tierra del Fuego