King crab family bigger than ever

Sally Hall, a PhD student at the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science (SOES) at the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton (NOCS) has formally described four new species of king crab, all from the deep sea.

Hall discovered the new species in the Smithsonian Collections of the National Museum of Natural History in Washington. Explaining the significance of the find, she said: “King crabs include some of the largest crustaceans currently inhabiting Earth and are fished by humans, particularly from the shallower waters of the polar regions. The new discoveries increase the total number of king crab species known to 113.”

The new species are Paralomis nivosa from the Philippines, P. makarovi from the Bering Sea, P. alcockiana from South Carolina, and Lithodes galapagensis from the Galapagos archipelago – the first and only king crab species yet recorded from the seas around the Galapagos Islands. P. nivosa and P. makarovi came from previously unidentified samples collected in the early part of the twentieth century by the US Bureau of Fisheries steamer, Albatross.

King crabs were first formally described in 1819. They are now known from subtidal waters at high latitudes, but deep-sea species occur in most of the world's oceans, typically living at depths between 500 and 1500 metres.

“We are only now beginning to understand the incredible diversity of animals living in the deep sea,” said Hall: “It is incredible that the Albatross collection is still yielding new information, even though it is over 100 years since this survey of deep-sea life began.”

It is now clear that species of deep-sea king crab live in most areas of the world's oceans, but many more species remain to be discovered. “The oceans off eastern Africa, the Indian Ocean and the Southern Ocean are all particularly poorly sampled,” said Hall: “We need to know which king crab species live where before we can fully understand their ecology and evolutionary success.”

NOCS Press Office:

For more information contact the NOCS Press Officer Dr Rory Howlett on +44 (0)23 8059 8490 Email: r.howlett@noc.soton.ac.uk

Images are available from the NOCS Press Office (Tel. 023 8059 6100).

Scientist contact: Sally Hall: email smh57@noc.soton.ac.uk

The researchers are Sally Hall and Sven Thatje of the University of Southampton's School of Ocean and Earth Science at the National Oceanography Centre.

Publication:

Hall, S. & Thatje, S. Four new species of the family Lithodidae (Decapoda: Anomura) from the collections of the National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution. Zootaxa 2302, 31-47 (2009).
http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/content.html
http://www.mapress.com/zootaxa/2009/f/z02302p047f.pdf
This work was supported by the Marine Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning (MarBEF) EU Network of Excellence.

http://www.marbef.org/

The National Oceanography Centre, Southampton is the UK's focus for ocean science. It is one of the world's leading institutions devoted to research, teaching and technology development in ocean and earth science. Over 500 research scientists, lecturing, support and seagoing staff are based at the centre's purpose-built waterside campus in Southampton along with over 700 undergraduate and postgraduate students.

The National Oceanography Centre, Southampton is a collaboration between the University of Southampton and the Natural Environment Research Council. The NERC royal research ships RRS James Cook and RRS Discovery are based at NOCS as is the National Marine Equipment Pool which includes Autosub and Isis, two of the world's deepest diving research vehicles.