Lithodes santolla   (Molina, 1782)

Southern king crab

Native range | All suitable habitat | Point map | Year 2050
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Lithodes santolla  AquaMaps  Data sources: GBIF OBIS
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Classification / Names Common names | Synonyms | CoL | ITIS | WoRMS

Malacostraca | Decapoda | Lithodidae | Lithodinae

Environment: milieu / climate zone / depth range / distribution range Ecology

Benthic; depth range 0 - 700 m (Ref. 2686).  Subtropical, preferred 9°C (Ref. 107945); 34°S - 57°S, 77°W - 51°W

Distribution Countries | FAO areas | Ecosystems | Occurrences | Introductions

Southeast Pacific and Southwest Atlantic: from Chile (Talcahuano to Cape Horn), Falkland Islands, Argentina and Uruguay. Subtropical and temperate.

Length at first maturity / Size / Weight / Age

Maturity: Lm ?, range 6 - 7.5 cm Max length : 19.0 cm CL male/unsexed; (Ref. 93013); max. published weight: 8.0 kg (Ref. 93013)

Biology     Glossary (e.g. epibenthic)

Restricted to deeper waters (Ref. 2786). Intraspecific predation observed in its early stages (Ref. 104081). Juveniles are observed to form aggregations known as "pods" on large kelp Macrocystis pyrifera. Young individuals are found around the holdfasts and stipes of this kelp (Ref. 104212) as well as on rocky bottoms in the subtidal nearshore (Ref. 104371). Juveniles are voracious and opportunistic omnivorous predators (Ref. 104371). Scavenger and predator (Ref. 113323). Also in Ref. 78676.

Life cycle and mating behavior Maturity | Reproduction | Spawning | Eggs | Fecundity | Larvae

Life cycle: Females begin molting in late November to early December. Fertilization occurs right after oviposition. Embryogenesis lasts 9-10 months. Larval hatching occurs between mid-September and October. Embryos develop into lecithotrophic or facultative larvae, which passes through three zoeal and one megalopal stages, and later metamorphoses to the first benthic crab stage. Mating behavior: A precopulatory embrace occurs between an old-shelled male and a recently molted female. Females carry 5500-60000 eggs (Ref. 93013).

Main reference References | Coordinator | Collaborators

Arana, P.M.E. and M.A. Retamal. 1999. (Ref. 2676)

IUCN Red List Status (Ref. 130435)


CITES status (Ref. 108899)

Not Evaluated

CMS (Ref. 116361)

Not Evaluated

Threat to humans

  Harmless

Human uses

Fisheries: commercial
FAO - Fisheries: landings | FishSource | Sea Around Us

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More information

Age/Size
Growth
Length-weight
Length-length
Morphology
Larvae
Abundance

Internet sources

BHL | BOLD Systems | CISTI | DiscoverLife | FAO(Fisheries: ; publication : search) | Fishipedia | GenBank (genome, nucleotide) | GloBI | Gomexsi | Google Books | Google Scholar | Google | PubMed | Tree of Life | Wikipedia (Go, Search) | Zoological Record

Estimates based on models

Preferred temperature (Ref. 115969): 4.4 - 9.7, mean 6.4 (based on 330 cells).
Resilience (Ref. 69278): Medium, minimum population doubling time 1.4 - 4.4 years (K=0.15-0.22; tm=5).
Vulnerability (Ref. 71543): Low vulnerability (10 of 100).
Price category (Ref. 80766): Medium.
Nutrients: Calcium = 109 [35, 184] mg/100g; Iron = 1.59 [1.21, 1.97] mg/100g; Protein = 20.2 [19.2, 21.3] %; Omega3 = 0.285 [0.185, 0.386] g/100g; Selenium = 48.3 [-31.7, 128.3] μg/100g; VitaminA = 0 μg/100g; Zinc = 1.79 [1.17, 2.40] mg/100g (wet weight).