Paralomis bouvieri


Paralomis bouvieri is a species of king crab.

Description

Paralomis bouvieri is mostly pale orange-red in colour except for the whitish underside of its coxae and the blackish-brown tips of its dactyli. It has a pentagonal carapace which is slightly longer than wide and is one of the smallest among Paralomis, being as large as in a mature male and in an ovigerous female. It most closely resembles Paralomis spinosissima from the South Atlantic – which is nearly twice as large.

Distribution

Paralomis bouvieri is suspected to be rare and is distributed around the North Atlantic, likely continuously, being known from the waters of the United States, Canada, Greenland, Iceland, and southwestern Ireland. It has been found from depths of, the latter being the deepest record of any king crab.

Taxonomy

Paralomis bouvieri was described in 1908 by Hans Jacob Hansen from two specimens – one south of Iceland and one between Greenland and Iceland, both of which have since been lost. It is named for Eugène Louis Bouvier.

Works cited

*