Pole to pole: the deep-sea king crab Lithodes couesi (Decapoda: Lithodidae) in the Burdwood Bank, Southwestern Atlantic Ocean

PATRICIA PÉREZ BARROS; MARIANO J. ALBANO; MARIANO J. DIEZ; GUSTAVO A. LOVRICH

POLAR BIOLOGY

SPRINGER

Lugar: Berlin; Año: 2019 vol. 43 p. 81 - 86

0722-4060

In recentyears, remote exploration around the Scotia Arc and waters off the AntarcticPeninsula yielded new records of Lithodidae suggesting our knowledge on theirdistribution is biased by our ability to sample areas with difficult access. Inthe present study, we used molecular methods to identify and report theoccurrence of the deep-sea king crab Lithodescouesi, so far reported as a North Pacific lithodid, in the marineprotected area (MPA) Namuncurá/Burdwood Bank II, Southwestern Atlantic Ocean;more than 10,000 km away from its known distribution. Our finding suggests thatthe distributions of deep-water lithodid species are more extensive than theyhave been previously thought. We emphasize the need for a worldwide key toidentify lithodid species, and prompt to barcoding specimens, at least thosefrom poorly known species or remote locations, in order to corroborate theirspecific status. Finally, our study stresses the importance of MPAs in theconservation of biodiversity, as well as the processes involved in itsevolution.