king crab

 

The term king crab is also sometimes used for the horseshoe crab Limulus.

King crabs
Paralithodes californiensis
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia Phylum: Arthropoda Subphylum: Crustacea Class: Malacostraca Order: Decapoda Infraorder: Anomura Superfamily: Paguroidea Family: Lithodidae Samouelle, 1819
Genera [1]
Acantholithodes Cryptolithodes Dermaturus Glyptolithodes Hapalogaster Lithodes Lopholithodes Neolithodes Oedignathus Paralithodes Paralomis Phyllolithodes Placetron Rhinolithodes

King crabs, also called stone crabs, are a family of crab-like decapod crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas. Their large size means that many species are widely caught and sold as food.

King crabs are generally believed to be derived from hermit crab ancestors, which may explain the asymmetry still found in the adult forms. Although some doubt still exists about this theory, king crabs are the most widely quoted example of carcinisation among the Decapoda. The evidence for this explanation comes from the asymmetry of the king crab's abdomen, which is thought to reflect the asymmetry of hermit crabs, which must fit into a spiral shell.

Species

Around 40 species are known, in 14 genera ^[2]:

• Acantholithodes Holmes, 1895
  • Acantholithodes hispidus (Stimpson, 1860)
• Cryptolithodes Brandt, 1848
  • Cryptolithodes brevifrons
  • Cryptolithodes sitchensis Brandt, 1853 — umbrella crab
  • Cryptolithodes typicus Brandt, 1848 — butterfly crab
• Dermaturus Brandt, 1850
  • Dermaturus mandtii Brandt, 1850 — wrinkled crab
• Glyptolithodes Faxon, 1895
  • Glyptolithodes cristatipes (Faxon, 1893)
• Hapalogaster Brandt, 1850
  • Hapalogaster cavicauda Stimpson, 1859
  • Hapalogaster grebnitzkii Schalfeew, 1892
  • Hapalogaster mertensii Brandt, 1850
• Lithodes Latreille, 1806
  • Lithodes aequispinus J. E. Benedict, 1895 — golden king crab
  • Lithodes agassizii
  • Lithodes couesi J. E. Benedict, 1895 — scarlet king crab
  • Lithodes longispina Sakai, 1971
  • Lithodes maja (Linnaeus, 1758) — Norway king crab
  • Lithodes nintokuae Sakai, 1976
• Lopholithodes Brandt, 1848
  • Lopholithodes foraminatus (Stimpson, 1859) — brown box crab
  • Lopholithodes mandtii Brandt, 1848 — Puget Sound king crab
• Neolithodes A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1894
  • Neolithodes agassizii (S. I. Smith, 1882)
  • Neolithodes diomedeae (J. E. Benedict, 1895)
  • Neolithodes grimaldii (A. Milne-Edwards & Bouvier, 1894)
• Oedignathus Benedict, 1895
  • Oedignathus inermis (Stimpson, 1860) — granular claw crab
• Paralithodes Brandt, 1848
  • Paralithodes brevipes (H. Milne Edwards & Lucas, 1841)
  • Paralithodes californiensis (J. E. Benedict, 1895) — California king crab
  • Paralithodes camtschaticus (Tilesius, 1815) — red king crab
  • Paralithodes platypus Brandt, 1850 — blue king crab
  • Paralithodes rathbuni (J. E. Benedict, 1895)
• Paralomis White, 1856
  • Paralomis bouvieri Hansen, 1908
  • Paralomis cubensis Chace, 1939
  • Paralomis haigae Eldredge, 1976
  • Paralomis longipes Faxon, 1893
  • Paralomis manningi A. B. Williams, C. R. Smith & Baco, 2000
  • Paralomis multispina (J. E. Benedict, 1895)
  • Paralomis pacifica Sakai, 1978
  • Paralomis seagranti Eldredge, 1976
  • Paralomis verrilli (J. E. Benedict, 1895)
• Phyllolithodes Brandt, 1848
  • Phyllolithodes papillosus Brandt, 1848 — flatspine triangle crab, heart crab
• Placetron Schalfeew, 1892
  • Placetron wosnessenskii Schalfeew, 1892 — scaled crab
• Rhinolithodes Brandt, 1848
  • Rhinolithodes wosnessenskii Brandt, 1848 — rhinoceros crab

Glyptolithodes

Main article: Glyptolithodes

Glyptolithodes is found chiefly in the Southern Hemisphere, but extending as far north as California, although all its closest relatives live in the Northern Hemisphere. Its single species, G. cristatipes was originally placed in the genus Rhinolithodes.

Lithodes

Lithodes aequispinus

The golden king crab, Lithodes aequispinus, is caught in the Aleutian Chain off the coast of Alaska. The golden king crab is significantly smaller than the red and blue king crabs, averaging 5–8 lb (2–4 kg) ^[3], but tastes similar to the red and blue king crabs although actually sweeter. They are, however, considerably cheaper due to their appearance and size.

Significant populations occur in pockets in the waters off the Pribilof and Shumagin Islands, Shelikof Strait, Prince William Sound and at least as far south as lower Chatham Strait in the south-east, where a regular commercial fishery occurs annually.It should be noted they occur in deeper water than the red king crab, often in depths exceeding 300 fathoms.

Lithodes couesi

The scarlet king crab, Lithodes couesi, is not often fished for since it is not sold commercially. This is due to the small size and lack of population to allow a commercial harvest.

Lithodes maja

Main article: Lithodes maja

Lithodes maja occurs in the North Atlantic, including Northern Europe and Canada's east coast. It is not abundant enough to support commercial fishery, and is becoming rare in some areas.

Oedignathus

Main article: Oedignathus

Oedignathus inermis, the only species in the genus Oedignathus, is found on the west coast of North America and separately around the coasts of Japan. Its claws and walking legs are covered in numerous tubercles rather than setae or spines, which distinguishes it from other genera.

Paralithodes

Paralithodes camtschaticus

Main article: Paralithodes camtschaticus

The red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus, is a very large species, sometimes reaching a carapace width of 11 in (28 cm) and a leg span of 6 ft (1.8 m). It is found around the Aleutian Islands and was intentionally introduced to European Arctic waters, where it is now becoming a pest.

Paralithodes platypus

The blue king crab, Paralithodes platypus, lives near St. Matthew Island and the Pribilof Islands, Alaska, and is the largest of all the king crabs, sometimes exceeding 18 lb (8 kg) in weight ^[4]. The blue king crab is often sold as the coveted red king crab because it resembles and tastes similar to red king crab when cooked. Both the St. Matthew and Pribilof blue king crab stocks are classified as overfished and no longer support commercial fisheries.

See also

• Alaskan king crab fishing
• Deadliest Catch

References

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