About Shinkaia crosnieri

Shinkaia crosnieri is a species of squat lobster in the family Munidopsidae, commonly found in deep-sea hydrothermal vent ecosystems in the western Pacific Ocean. This species relies on chemosynthetic bacteria that live on its setae for nutrition. The bacteria oxidize sulfur compounds from the vent fluids, providing essential nutrients to the host. Shinkaia crosnieri plays a significant role in vent ecosystems by facilitating nutrient cycling and supporting microbial communities, making it an important model for studying symbiosis in extreme environments.

Animalia (Kingdom); Arthropoda (Phylum); Crustacea (Subphylum); Multicrustacea (Superclass); Malacostraca (Class); Eumalacostraca (Subclass); Eucarida (Superorder); Decapoda (Order); Pleocyemata (Suborder); Anomura (Infraorder); Galatheoidea (Superfamily); Munidopsidae (Family); Shinkaia (Genus); Shinkaia crosnieri (Species)

Shinkaia crosnieri Baba & Williams, 1998

1. Keiji B, WILLIAMS A B. New Galatheoidea (Crustacea, Decapoda, Anomura) from hydrothermal systems in the West Pacific Ocean: bismarck archipelago and okinawa trough[J]. Zoosystema, 1998, 20(2). (Baba et al., 1998)

Carapace longitudinally oval in dorsal view; lateral margin becoming slightly upturned in large adults, bearing many similar shaped, forward trending, closely-set small spines, one to four anterior to notch demarking anterior branch of cervical groove, larger spine following notch succeeded by 25-30 small spines in unbroken file, though absent from posterolateral part of branchial region, many of them doubled or supernumerary, but poorly developed in young and obsolescent in large adults. Dorsal surface fairly smooth, unevenly ornamented with ciliated punctations, many tending to be associated with obsolescent small transverse rugae, more prominent on flattened peripheral zone than on elevated gastrocardiac region

From the name of the deep submersible Shinkai 2000. The gender is feminine

Iheya North hydrothermal vent in Okinawa Trough (126°58.82′E, 27°47.44′N)