Paralomis webberi

Paralomis webberi
Data Deficit
Data Deficit (NZ TCS)[1]
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Malacostraca
Order: Decapoda
Suborder: Pleocyemata
Infraorder: Anomura
Family: Lithodidae
Genus: Paralomis
Species:
P. webberi
Binomial name
Paralomis webberi
Ahyong, 2010

Paralomis webberi is a species of king crab in the genus Paralomis. It is known from one specimen found off the coast of New Zealand.[2]

Description

Paralomis webberi is known only from a single, egg-carrying ("ovigerous") adult female holotype as of 2010.[2] Its colour in life is not known.[2] It has a pyriform carapace which, in the holotype, is 33.6 mm (1.32 in) long[a] and 29.2 mm (1.15 in) wide.[2] Its rostrum is 7.4 mm (0.29 in) long, consisting of two median spines and a pair of outward-diverging spines, all angled obliquely upward, and nine spinules on an angular lobe underneath.[2] The major cheliped is 1.31 times the carapace length and the minor cheliped 1.26 times.[2] The first pair of walking legs are the longest at 1.33 times the carapace length.[2]

The dorsal carapace, abdomen, chelipeds, and walking legs are all densely covered in slender spines.[2] The carapace is uniformly covered in spines of similar size, while those on the abdomen become progressively shorter toward the anterior – eventually shrinking to blunt, setose tubercles on the semicircular telson.[2] The coxae of the chelipeds and walking legs are unarmed, and the chelae and dactyli feature spines proximally but tufts of golden setae distally.[2] The other segments of the chelipeds are spinose except the dorsal and ventral surfaces of the ischiobasis and the inner ("mesial") surface of the merus; the other segments of the walking legs are spinose except the ventral surface of the merus.[2]

Distribution

As of 2010, only one Paralomis webberi specimen has been identified.[2] It was trawled in September 1998 from the Rumble III Seamount northeast of New Zealand between a depth of 632–1,255 m (2,073–4,117 ft).[2] It is unknown if the specimen was taken from one of the seamount's active hydrothermal vent sites.[2] Due to insufficient data, P. webberi's conservation status is unknown.[1]

Taxonomy

Paralomis webberi was described by carcinologist Shane T. Ahyong in 2010 and is named for Rick Webber of the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa.[2] The holotype, an adult female preserved in Te Papa, was found on the Rumble III Seamount in 1998.[2] It closely resembles P. echidna, with only subtle distinctions.[2]

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ Using postorbital carapace length (pcl), which is measured from the rear margin of the orbit and therefore excludes the rostrum

References

  1. 1 2 Funnell, Greig; et al. (January 2023). Todd, Amanda (ed.). Conservation status of indigenous marine invertebrates in Aotearoa New Zealand, 2021 (PDF) (Report). New Zealand Department of Conservation. p. 13. ISBN 978-1-99-118365-1. Retrieved 27 September 2024.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Ahyong, Shane T. (2010). The Marine Fauna of New Zealand: King Crabs of New Zealand, Australia, and the Ross Sea (Crustacea: Decapoda: Lithodidae) (PDF). NIWA Diversity Memoirs. Vol. 123. National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research. pp. 169–175. ISBN 978-0-478-23285-1. LCCN 2010497356. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 February 2020.
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