Thaumastocheles japonicus

Calman, 1913

Diagnosis:
Teeth on fingers of large cheliped placed in a single row and oriented in the same plane as the fingers themselves.

Type:
Type locality: "Off Yenoshima, Odawara Bay [ = off Enoshima near Odawara, Sagami Bay], Japan, 200 fms [= 366 m]" Type specimen in Zoological Museum of University of St. Andrews, Scotland, UK.

Geographical Distribution:
East coast of Japan between Sagami and Tosa Bays. A single pincer collected near New Caledonia (22°02'S 165°57'E; 800 m deep) may belong to the present species (Monod, 1973: 126, figs 37-39).

Habitat and Biology:
The species is known from depths between 366 and 700 m (the New Caledonian specimen from 800 m).

Size:
Total length 9 to 17.5 cm, carapace length between 4 and 6 cm.

Interest to Fisheries:
None so far. The species is rarely caught, and usually as single specimens. Also the great depths at which it occurs makes it less interesting for commercial exploitation.

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