King Crab

King crabs, also called stone crabs, are a superfamily of crab-like decapod crustaceans chiefly found in cold seas. Because of their large size and the taste of their flesh, many species are widely caught and sold as food, the most common being the red king crab, Paralithodes camtschaticus.

King crabs are generally thought to be derived from hermit crab-like ancestors, which may explain the asymmetry still found in the adult forms. Although some doubt still exists about this theory, king crabs are the most widely quoted example of carcinisation among the Decapoda. The evidence for this explanation comes from the asymmetry of the king crab's abdomen, which is thought to reflect the asymmetry of hermit crabs, which must fit into a spiral shell. Although formerly classified among the hermit crabs in the superfamily Paguroidea, king crabs are now placed in a separate superfamily, Lithodoidea.

Glyptolithodes is found chiefly in the Southern Hemisphere, but extending as far north as California, although all its closest relatives live in the Northern Hemisphere. Its single species, G. cristatipes was originally placed in the genus Rhinolithodes.

The golden king crab, Lithodes aequispinus, is caught in the Aleutian Chain off the coast of Alaska. The golden king crab is significantly smaller than the red and blue king crabs, averaging 5 8 160 lb 2 4 160 kg . 6 It tastes similar to the red and blue king crabs, though perhaps somewhat sweeter. They are considerably cheaper due to their appearance and size.

Significant populations occur in pockets in the waters off the Pribilof and Shumagin Islands, Shelikof Strait, Prince William Sound and at least as far south as lower Chatham Strait in the south-east, where a regular commercial fishery occurs annually. It should be noted they occur in deeper water than the red king crab, often in depths exceeding 300 160 fathoms 1,800 ft 550 m . Juvenile golden king crabs are cryptic and rely on structure-forming sessile invertebrates growing on the sea floor, such as corals, sponges and sea-whips, to provide habitat. These sessile invertebrates are slow-growing and they are at risk in certain areas where commercial fishing by bottom trawling has been common practice. For this reason, large tracts of the sea floor along the Aleutian Island chain have been protected from bottom trawling under the Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act.