''Eunephrops manningi'', the banded lobster, is a

species In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriat ...

lobster Lobsters are a family (Nephropidae, synonym Homaridae) of marine crustaceans. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on the sea floor. Three of their five pairs of legs have claws, including the first pair, ...

found in the

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

. It was named in 1974 by

carcinologist A carcinologist is a scientist who studies crustaceans or is otherwise involved in carcinology Carcinology is a branch of zoology that consists of the study of crustaceans, a group of arthropods that includes lobsters, crayfish, shrimp, krill, ...

Lipke Holthuis after his friend and fellow carcinologist Raymond B. Manning.

Description

It grows to a length of (

carapace A carapace is a dorsal (upper) section of the exoskeleton or shell in a number of animal groups, including arthropods, such as crustaceans and arachnids, as well as vertebrates, such as turtles and tortoises. In turtles and tortoises, the unde ...

length ) and lives at depths of . While it is large enough to be a target for commercial

lobster fishing Lobsters are widely fished around the world for their meat. They are often hard to catch in large numbers, but their large size can make them a profitable catch. Although the majority of the targeted species are tropical, the majority of the glo ...

, this is precluded by its rarity, only three specimens having ever been collected. It can be distinguished from other species in the genus by the lack of post-cervical spines on the carapace, and by the presence of only transverse grooves on the

body segment Segmentation in biology is the division of some animal and plant body plans into a series of repetitive segments. This article focuses on the segmentation of animal body plans, specifically using the examples of the taxa Arthropoda, Chordata, an ...

s of the

abdomen The abdomen (colloquially called the belly, tummy, midriff, tucky or stomach) is the part of the body between the thorax (chest) and pelvis, in humans and in other vertebrates. The abdomen is the front part of the abdominal segment of the to ...

References

True lobsters Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean Crustaceans described in 1974 Arthropods of the Dominican Republic {{Decapoda-stub