Lithodes unicornis
Species of king crab
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lithodes unicornis is a species of king crab.[1] It lives at the muddy bottoms of an oceanic plateau in the southern Atlantic Ocean's Walvis Ridge known as the Valdivia Bank, residing at a depth of about 935 m (3,068 ft).[2]
| Lithodes unicornis | |
|---|---|
Scientific classification  | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Malacostraca |
| Order: | Decapoda |
| Suborder: | Pleocyemata |
| Infraorder: | Anomura |
| Family: | Lithodidae |
| Genus: | Lithodes |
| Species: | L. unicornis |
| Binomial name | |
| Lithodes unicornis Macpherson, 1984[1] | |
Description
L. unicornis is cream-coloured with pinkish-tinged walking legs and carapace, darker pinkish spines and dactyli, and yellowish setae which grow from its fingers.[2] It has a pentagonal carapace which has been measured in males to be as long as 129 mm (5.1 in) and as wide as 124 mm (4.9 in).[2] It is morphologically similar to L. murrayi, but it has a visibly thinner central rostral spine.[2]
