Paralomis multispina ( Benedict, 1894 )

Hall, Sally & Thatje, Sven, 2010, King crabs up-close: ontogenetic changes in ornamentation in the family Lithodidae (Crustacea, Decapoda, Anomura), with a focus on the genus Paralomis, Zoosystema 32 (3), pp. 495-524 : 504

Paralomis multispina ( Benedict, 1894) ( Fig. 7 )

Leptolithodes multispina Benedict, 1894: 484 . — Rathbun 1904: 165.

Paralomis multispina – Schmitt 1921: 159, pl. 23; pl. 30, figs 7, 8. — Makarov 1938: 257, fig. 102. — Sakai 1971: pl. 6, fig. 2; pl. 14, figs 1, 2.

DISTRIBUTION. — North Pacific, particularly around Japan, approximately 500-1100 m.

MATERIAL EXAMINED. — 7 ♀♀ (CL 14-93 mm); 9 šš (CL 7-105 mm).

SPECIMENS FIGURED. — Sea Lion rocks, WA, 1253 m, 1 ♀ CL 17 mm ( USNM- 18591). — San Diego, CA, 1503 m, 1 ♀ CL 68 mm ( USNM- 18589).

REMARKS

In P. multispina , the spines in the larger size classes (CL> 50 mm) are stout, sharp-tipped, and conical, flattened at an oblique (posterior facing) angle, and with a circumference of short setae around that face ( Fig. 7E ). Juveniles (CL 7-30 mm) of P. multispina have short, blunt, pedunculated tubercles, bearing a halo of short setae ( Fig. 7B, C ). In specimens of around CL 30 mm, there is evidence for the tubercles becoming longer and developing an acute tip, as in larger adults. In all specimens, one spine in the mid-gastric region is larger than the other spines or tubercles, and which has no setae, nor does it have a flattened region posteriorly: this spine appears to be particularly large in relation to the lower tubercles on small specimens.

Figures

FIG. 7. — Paralomis multispina Benedict, 1895: A-C, ♀ CL 17 mm (USNM-18591), Sea Lion rocks, WA, 1253 m; D, E, ♀ CL 68 mm (USNM-18589);A, carapace,dorsal view;B, mid-branchial spines,dorsal view;C, typical mid-branchial spine,lateral view;D, carapace, dorsal view; E, typical mid-branchial spine, right lateral view. Scale bars: A, 5 mm; B-E, 1 mm.