''Nephropides caribaeus'' is a species of lobster, the only species in the genus ''Nephropides''. It is found in western parts of the

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea ( es, Mar Caribe; french: Mer des Caraïbes; ht, Lanmè Karayib; jam, Kiaribiyan Sii; nl, Caraïbische Zee; pap, Laman Karibe) is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere. It is bounded by Mexico ...

, from

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

to Colombia. It grows to a total length of around , and is covered in conspicuous

tubercle In anatomy, a tubercle (literally 'small tuber', Latin for 'lump') is any round nodule, small eminence, or warty outgrowth found on external or internal organs of a plant or an animal. In plants A tubercle is generally a wart-like projection ...

Description

''Nephropides caribaeus'' is a narrow lobster, resembling ''

Nephropsis ''Nephropsis'' is a genus of lobsters containing 15 extant species: *'' Nephropsis acanthura'' Macpherson, 1990 *'' Nephropsis aculeata'' Smith, 1881 *'' Nephropsis agassizii'' A. Milne-Edwards, 1880 *''Nephropsis atlantica'' Norman, 1882 *''Ne ...

'' or '' Nephrops''. Adults of ''N. caribaeus'' are typically in total length, or in carapace length. It differs from ''Nephropsis'' in that the eyes contain pigment, which is lacking in ''Nephropsis''. The

rostrum Rostrum may refer to: * Any kind of a platform for a speaker: **dais **pulpit * Rostrum (anatomy), a beak, or anatomical structure resembling a beak, as in the mouthparts of many sucking insects * Rostrum (ship), a form of bow on naval ships * Ros ...

has 2–3 lateral spines, but no spines on the lower edge. The whole body is covered in large

s, including the first pereiopods with their large

chelae A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a pincer (biology), pincer-like organ at the end of certain limbs of some arthropods. The name comes from Ancient Greek , through New Latin '. The plural form is chelae. Legs bearing a chela are ...

, and the other, smaller pereiopods.

Distribution and ecology

''Nephropides caribaeus'' is found in the western

, and has been recorded from

to Colombia. It is a deep-water species, living on muddy bottoms at depths of .

Taxonomic history

The genus ''Nephropides'' and the species ''N. caribaeus'' were both erected in 1969 by

Raymond B. Manning Raymond Brendan Manning (October 11, 1934 – January 18, 2000) was an American carcinologist, specialising in alpha taxonomy and mantis shrimp. Biography Raymond Manning was born in Brooklyn, New York, in 1934, but moved almost immediately with hi ...

. A second species later described in the genus has since been transferred to ''

Thymops ''Thymops birsteini'', the Patagonian lobsterette, is a species of lobster found around the coasts of South America, particularly the South Atlantic. It belongs to the monotypic genus ''Thymops''. Distribution ''T. birsteini'' is found on the co ...

'' as ''Thymops birsteini''. The

Food and Agriculture Organization The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)french: link=no, Organisation des Nations unies pour l'alimentation et l'agriculture; it, Organizzazione delle Nazioni Unite per l'Alimentazione e l'Agricoltura is an intern ...

has assigned the species an English name of "mitten lobsterette". The type locality is at , off the coast of

Nicaragua Nicaragua (; ), officially the Republic of Nicaragua (), is the largest country in Central America, bordered by Honduras to the north, the Caribbean to the east, Costa Rica to the south, and the Pacific Ocean to the west. Managua is the countr ...

, at a depth of . The generic name ''Nephropides'' alludes to a close relationship with the genus '' Nephrops'', while the specific epithet ' is a reference to the Caribbean Sea.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q992239 True lobsters Monotypic crustacean genera Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean