Lithodes couesi Benedict, 1895

Wicksten, Mary K., 2012, Decapod Crustacea of the Californian and Oregonian Zoogeographic Provinces 3371, Zootaxa 3371, pp. 1-307 : 167

Lithodes couesi Benedict, 1895

(Pl. 6A)

Lithodes couesi Benedict, 1895: 481 . — Schmitt 1921: 162, pl. 28, pl. 29 figs. 3–5. — Makarov 1962: 255, fig. 101. — Pereyra & Alton 1972: 450. — Somerton 1981: 259, figs. 7, 8. — Hart 1982: 94, fig. 31. — Wicksten 1982: 245; 1989b: 314. — Dawson 1989: 317. — Komai & Anaoka 1989: 287. — Martin et al. 1997: 79, fig. 1 (extensive synonymy). — Macpherson & Wehrtmann 2010: 148.

Diagnosis. Carapace longer than wide, with spines on dorsal surface and larger ones along margins. Rostrum with bifid apex, pair lateral spines. Chelipeds much shorter than walking legs, with spines; fingers with gape. Pereopods 2–4 with spines on upper surface, margins. Abdomen without spines. Spines relatively larger and rostrum relatively longer in relation to carapace in juveniles than in adults. Individuals varying in shape, length of rostrum; also lateral spines of carapace. Carapace length to 105 mm.

Color in life. Carapace rosy pink, spines red. Chelipeds, other pereopods crimson with white joints. Juveniles scarlet ( Hart 1982).

Habitat and depth. Among mud or boulders, 258–1829 m.

Range. Okhotsk Sea off Japan; Bering Sea to south of Tortugas Bay , Baja California, Mexico. Type locality north of Unalaska .

Remarks. Lithodes couesi has three adaptations to survival in areas of low oxygen concentration: inflated branchial chambers, large exhalent openings and large scaphognathites. Photographs show the crab walking on tiptoe atop soft muddy sediments ( Somerton 1981). Martin et al. (1997) reported that the crab can be heavily infested by the rhizocephalan Briarosaccus callosus Boschma, 1930 .