Metanephrops challengeri
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''Metanephrops challengeri'' ( commonly known as the New Zealand lobster or New Zealand scampi) 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 appropriate s ...
of slim, pink
lobster Lobsters are a family (biology), family (Nephropidae, Synonym (taxonomy), 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 ...
that lives around the coast of
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. It is typically long and weighs around . The
carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), 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 tor ...
and abdomen are smooth, and adults are white with pink and brown markings and a conspicuous pair of long, slim claws. ''M. challengeri'' lives in burrows at depths of in a variety of sediments. Although individuals can live for up to 15 years, the species shows low fecundity, where small numbers of larvae hatch at an advanced stage. ''M. challengeri'' is a significant prey item for
ling Ling may refer to: Fictional characters * Ling, an ally of James Bond's from the film ''You Only Live Twice'' * Ling, a character in the ''Mulan'' franchise * Ling, a playable character from the mobile game '' Mobile Legends: Bang Bang'' * Ling ...
, as well as being an important fishery species for human consumption; trawlers catch around per year under the limitations of New Zealand's
Quota Management System The Quota Management System (QMS) is a type of individual fishing quota that is used in New Zealand to manage fish stocks. New Zealand fishing industry Seafood is one of New Zealand's largest export markets, with 85% of catches being exported. Over ...
. The species was first collected by the ''Challenger'' expedition of 1872–1876, but only described as separate from related species by
Heinrich Balss Heinrich Balss (3 June 1886 – 17 September 1957) was a German zoologist, specialising in Crustacea, especially decapods. He was chief conservator at the ' ("State Zoology Collection") at the University of Munich, and wrote the sections on decapod ...
in 1914. Although originally classified in the genus ''
Nephrops ''Nephrops'' is a genus of lobsters comprising a single extant species, ''Nephrops norvegicus'' (the Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn), and several fossil species. It was erected by William Elford Leach in 1814, to accommodate ''N. norvegicus' ...
'', it was moved in 1972 to a new genus, ''
Metanephrops ''Metanephrops'' is a genus of lobsters, commonly known as scampi. Important species for fishery include '' Metanephrops australiensis'' (Australian scampi) and ''Metanephrops challengeri'' (New Zealand scampi). It differs from other lobsters su ...
'', along with most other species then classified in ''Nephrops''.


Description

''Metanephrops challengeri'' is a slender lobster, typically long, but exceptionally up to , and weighing up to each. Its chelipeds (legs bearing the main
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 ...
, or claws) are long, narrow, and slightly unequal. The second and third pairs of
pereiopod The decapod (crustaceans such as a crab, lobster, shrimp or prawn) is made up of 20 body segments grouped into two main body parts: the cephalothorax and the pleon (abdomen). Each segment may possess one pair of appendages, although in various g ...
s also end in small claws, but the fourth and fifth pairs do not. The
carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), 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 tor ...
is smooth, and extends forwards into a long, narrow
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 ...
, only slightly shorter than the carapace. Adults are mostly white, but the front half of the rostrum, and the sides of the abdomen, are pink. Bright red bands extend across the base of the rostrum, the posterior edge of the carapace, the chelipeds, and each of the abdominal segments. The dorsal parts of the abdomen are brown, and there are two brown saddles on the dorsal carapace. ''M. challengeri'' is considered to have the most primitive morphology of any species of ''Metanephrops'', having even fewer
novelties A novelty item or simply novelty is an object which is specifically designed to serve no practical purpose, and is sold for its uniqueness, humor, or simply as something new (hence "novelty", or newness). The term also applies to practical items wi ...
than the oldest known fossil species, '' M. rossensis''. Its
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 ...
is longer than that of other species in the ''thomsoni''
species group In biology, a species complex is a group of closely related organisms that are so similar in appearance and other features that the boundaries between them are often unclear. The taxa in the complex may be able to hybridize readily with each oth ...
, and the ridge along the midline of the
carapace A carapace is a Dorsum (biology), 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 tor ...
only has two small spines. Unlike some other species of ''Metanephrops'', the carapace is smooth, as are the abdominal
terga A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; plural ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod segment other than the head. The anterior edge is called the 'base' and posterior edge is called the 'apex' or 'ma ...
e, and the chelipeds are covered in fine granules.


Life cycle

''Metanephrops challengeri'' reaches
sexual maturity Sexual maturity is the capability of an organism to reproduce. In humans it might be considered synonymous with adulthood, but here puberty is the name for the process of biological sexual maturation, while adulthood is based on cultural definitio ...
at the age of 3–4 years, and may live up to 15 years in total. Females produce very large eggs in small numbers; they are typically around in diameter, and are blue in colour. The
larvae A larva (; plural larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle. The ...
hatch at the ''zoea'' stage (equivalent to the third zoea of the Northern Hemisphere species ''
Nephrops norvegicus ''Nephrops norvegicus'', known variously as the Norway lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, ' (compare langostino) or ''scampi'', is a slim, orange-pink lobster which grows up to long, and is "the most important commercial crustacean in Europe". It is n ...
''). The zoea larvae are long, and possess all the appendages of the
cephalothorax The cephalothorax, also called prosoma in some groups, is a tagma of various arthropods, comprising the head and the thorax fused together, as distinct from the abdomen behind. (The terms ''prosoma'' and ''opisthosoma'' are equivalent to ''cepha ...
, including the
pereiopod The decapod (crustaceans such as a crab, lobster, shrimp or prawn) is made up of 20 body segments grouped into two main body parts: the cephalothorax and the pleon (abdomen). Each segment may possess one pair of appendages, although in various g ...
s, which are used for swimming, but no
pleopod The decapod ( crustaceans such as a crab, lobster, shrimp or prawn) is made up of 20 body segments grouped into two main body parts: the cephalothorax and the pleon (abdomen). Each segment may possess one pair of appendages, although in various ...
s (appendages of the abdomen). This larval stage lasts less than four days, before the young
moult In biology, moulting (British English), or molting (American English), also known as sloughing, shedding, or in many invertebrates, ecdysis, is the manner in which an animal routinely casts off a part of its body (often, but not always, an outer ...
into the post-larval stage. The post-larva swims using its pleopods. The post-larva later moults into the adult form. Larvae are rarely seen in the wild, confirming that the development to the bottom-dwelling post-larva is rapid.


Distribution and ecology

''Metanephrops challengeri'' lives around the coasts of New Zealand, including the
Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...
, at depths of . It lives in
burrow An Eastern chipmunk at the entrance of its burrow A burrow is a hole or tunnel excavated into the ground by an animal to construct a space suitable for habitation or temporary refuge, or as a byproduct of locomotion. Burrows provide a form of sh ...
s in a variety of "suitable cohesive" sediments, and is a significant prey item for ling ('' Genypterus blacodes''). Lobsters have few
parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson has ...
s, the most important for ''M. challengeri'' being the
microsporidia Microsporidia are a group of spore-forming unicellular parasites. These spores contain an extrusion apparatus that has a coiled polar tube ending in an anchoring disc at the apical part of the spore. They were once considered protozoans or prot ...
n '' Myospora metanephrops''. This can cause "destruction of the skeletal and heart muscles of infected lobsters", but its significance for the animals and for the fishing industry remains unclear. When it was described in 2010, ''M. metanephrops'' was the first microsporidian to be isolated from a true lobster.


Fisheries

''Metanephrops challengeri'' has been harvested commercially since the 1980s. Between the season of 1988/89 and 1990/91, the amount of scampi caught around New Zealand increased from only to around . Catch limits were introduced in 1990/91, and now is caught annually by
trawlers Trawler may refer to: Boats * Fishing trawler, used for commercial fishing * Naval trawler, a converted trawler, or a boat built in that style, used for naval purposes ** Trawlers of the Royal Navy * Recreational trawler, a pleasure boat built tra ...
. The fishery is centred on four areas of
continental shelf A continental shelf is a portion of a continent that is submerged under an area of relatively shallow water, known as a shelf sea. Much of these shelves were exposed by drops in sea level during glacial periods. The shelf surrounding an island ...
of the submerged continent
Zealandia Zealandia (pronounced ), also known as (Māori) or Tasmantis, is an almost entirely submerged mass of continental crust that subsided after breaking away from Gondwanaland 83–79 million years ago.Gurnis, M., Hall, C.E., and Lavier, L.L., ...
: the
Campbell Plateau The Campbell Plateau is a large oceanic plateau south of New Zealand and the Chatham Rise. It originated in the Gondwanan breakup and is part of Zealandia, a largely submerged continent. The above sea level parts of the plateau — the Bounty ...
around the
Auckland Islands The Auckland Islands (Māori: ''Motu Maha'' "Many islands" or ''Maungahuka'' "Snowy mountains") are an archipelago of New Zealand, lying south of the South Island. The main Auckland Island, occupying , is surrounded by smaller Adams Island, ...
,
Chatham Rise The Chatham Rise is an area of ocean floor to the east of New Zealand, forming part of the Zealandia continent. It stretches for some from near the South Island in the west, to the Chatham Islands in the east. It is New Zealand's most productive ...
, along the
Wairarapa The Wairarapa (; ), a geographical region of New Zealand, lies in the south-eastern corner of the North Island, east of metropolitan Wellington and south-west of the Hawke's Bay Region. It is lightly populated, having several rural service ...
coast, and in the
Bay of Plenty The Bay of Plenty ( mi, Te Moana-a-Toi) is a region of New Zealand, situated around a bight of the same name in the northern coast of the North Island. The bight stretches 260 km from the Coromandel Peninsula in the west to Cape Runawa ...
. Most of the
fishing vessel A fishing vessel is a boat or ship used to catch fish in the sea, or on a lake or river. Many different kinds of vessels are used in commercial, artisanal and recreational fishing. The total number of fishing vessels in the world in 2016 was es ...
s used to capture ''M. challengeri'' are long, with "double or triple trawl rigs of low headline height". There is considerable variation in the
catch per unit effort In fisheries and conservation biology, the catch per unit effort (CPUE) is an indirect measure of the abundance of a target species. Changes in the catch per unit effort are inferred to signify changes to the target species' true abundance. A decr ...
between different depths, between different geographical areas and between different years. ''M. challengeri'' is considered a luxury foodstuff. Most of the catch is exported and as a result, it is rarely seen in restaurants in
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
. ''Metanephrops challengeri'' was the subject of a 2003
select committee Select committee may refer to: *Select committee (parliamentary system), a committee made up of a small number of parliamentary members appointed to deal with particular areas or issues *Select or special committee (United States Congress) *Select ...
inquiry in the
New Zealand parliament The New Zealand Parliament ( mi, Pāremata Aotearoa) is the unicameral legislature of New Zealand, consisting of the King of New Zealand ( King-in-Parliament) and the New Zealand House of Representatives. The King is usually represented by h ...
, after allegations of
corruption Corruption is a form of dishonesty or a criminal offense which is undertaken by a person or an organization which is entrusted in a position of authority, in order to acquire illicit benefits or abuse power for one's personal gain. Corruption m ...
arose against officers of the
Ministry of Fisheries An agriculture ministry (also called an) agriculture department, agriculture board, agriculture council, or agriculture agency, or ministry of rural development) is a ministry charged with agriculture. The ministry is often headed by a minister f ...
. Although the allegations were quashed, the inquiry ruled that preferential treatment had been given to the large fishing company Simunovich Fisheries. In response, the
government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...
introduced ''M. challengeri'' into their
Quota Management System The Quota Management System (QMS) is a type of individual fishing quota that is used in New Zealand to manage fish stocks. New Zealand fishing industry Seafood is one of New Zealand's largest export markets, with 85% of catches being exported. Over ...
and paid compensation to some fishermen who had a justified grievance. Under QMS, an overall limit of was put in place for ''M. challengeri'' in 2011.


Conservation

''Metanephrops challengeri'' is currently listed as
Least Concern A least-concern species is a species that has been categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as evaluated as not being a focus of species conservation because the specific species is still plentiful in the wild. T ...
on the
IUCN Red List The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species, also known as the IUCN Red List or Red Data Book, founded in 1964, is the world's most comprehensive inventory of the global conservation status of biol ...
, due in part to the Quota Management System put in place by the New Zealand government. The species does appear to be declining, however, based both on burrow counts and analyses of catch per unit effort. Estimates of the total population size of ''M. challengeri'' vary depending on the methods used. Based on indirect measures, such as burrow counts, there may be as many as 28 million individuals, and the annual catch might represent only 2%–4% of the total population. Using more reliable figures based on those animals seen during surveys, there may be only 2–11 million individuals available to trawlers, and the annual catch may remove 12%–28% of that population.
Bycatch Bycatch (or by-catch), in the fishing industry, is a fish or other marine species that is caught unintentionally while fishing for specific species or sizes of wildlife. Bycatch is either the wrong species, the wrong sex, or is undersized or juve ...
from the New Zealand scampi fishery has included the
New Zealand sea lion The New Zealand sea lion (''Phocarctos hookeri''), once known as Hooker's sea lion, and as or (male) and (female) in Māori, is a species of sea lion that is endemic to New Zealand and primarily breeds on New Zealand's subantarctic Auckland a ...
, ''Phocarctos hookeri'', which is considered a
vulnerable species A vulnerable species is a species which has been Conservation status, categorized by the International Union for Conservation of Nature as being threatened species, threatened with extinction unless the circumstances that are threatened species, ...
by the IUCN.


Taxonomy

''Metanephrops challengeri'' was first described by
Heinrich Balss Heinrich Balss (3 June 1886 – 17 September 1957) was a German zoologist, specialising in Crustacea, especially decapods. He was chief conservator at the ' ("State Zoology Collection") at the University of Munich, and wrote the sections on decapod ...
in 1914, under the name ''Nephrops challengeri''. Two specimens had been collected on the ''Challenger'' expedition from
benthic The benthic zone is the ecological region at the lowest level of a body of water such as an ocean, lake, or stream, including the sediment surface and some sub-surface layers. The name comes from ancient Greek, βένθος (bénthos), meaning "t ...
''
Globigerina ''Globigerina'' () is a genus of planktonic Foraminifera, in the order of Rotaliida.Glo ...
'' ooze at a depth of , on the
Challenger Plateau The Challenger Plateau is a large submarine plateau west of New Zealand and south of the Lord Howe Rise. It has an approximate diameter of and an area of about . The water depth over the plateau varies between to and is covered by up to of se ...
in the
Tasman Sea The Tasman Sea (Māori: ''Te Tai-o-Rēhua'', ) is a marginal sea of the South Pacific Ocean, situated between Australia and New Zealand. It measures about across and about from north to south. The sea was named after the Dutch explorer Abe ...
(). They had been included by
Charles Spence Bate Charles Spence Bate, FRS (March 16, 1819 – July 29, 1889) was a British zoologist and dentist. Life He was born at Trenick House near Truro, the son of Charles Bate (1789–1872) and Harriet Spence (1788–1879). Charles adopted "Spence Bate" ...
in his report on the crustaceans collected by the ''Challenger'' expedition, but were not separated from "''Nephrops thomsoni''" (now ''
Metanephrops thomsoni ''Metanephrops'' is a genus of lobsters, commonly known as scampi. Important species for fishery include '' Metanephrops australiensis'' (Australian scampi) and ''Metanephrops challengeri'' (New Zealand scampi). It differs from other lobsters su ...
''), which was described by Spence Bate as a new species. Balss recognised that Spence Bate's ''N. thomsoni'' covered two species and, restricting the name ''M. thomsoni'' to the species containing the
type specimen In biology, a type is a particular wiktionary:en:specimen, specimen (or in some cases a group of specimens) of an organism to which the scientific name of that organism is formally attached. In other words, a type is an example that serves to a ...
s designated by Spence Bate (from the
Philippines The Philippines (; fil, Pilipinas, links=no), officially the Republic of the Philippines ( fil, Republika ng Pilipinas, links=no), * bik, Republika kan Filipinas * ceb, Republika sa Pilipinas * cbk, República de Filipinas * hil, Republ ...
), created a new species for the species from New Zealand. Balss chose the two specimens seen by Spence Bate to be the type specimens of his new species, ''Nephrops challengeri''. Both were females, and they have been deposited at the
Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
in London. The species was transferred to a new genus, ''
Metanephrops ''Metanephrops'' is a genus of lobsters, commonly known as scampi. Important species for fishery include '' Metanephrops australiensis'' (Australian scampi) and ''Metanephrops challengeri'' (New Zealand scampi). It differs from other lobsters su ...
'' (along with every other extant species then in ''
Nephrops ''Nephrops'' is a genus of lobsters comprising a single extant species, ''Nephrops norvegicus'' (the Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn), and several fossil species. It was erected by William Elford Leach in 1814, to accommodate ''N. norvegicus' ...
'', except its
type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...
, ''
Nephrops norvegicus ''Nephrops norvegicus'', known variously as the Norway lobster, Dublin Bay prawn, ' (compare langostino) or ''scampi'', is a slim, orange-pink lobster which grows up to long, and is "the most important commercial crustacean in Europe". It is n ...
'') by Richard Jenkins of the
University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on N ...
in 1972. Jenkins placed ''M. challengeri'' among the "''thomsoni'' group" within the genus ''Metanephrops'', alongside '' M. thomsoni'', '' M. sibogae'', '' M. boschmai'' and '' M. sinensis''. Jenkins inferred that this group of species had originated off northern Australia or in Indonesia, and that ''M. challengeri'' had reached New Zealand in the late
Tertiary Tertiary ( ) is a widely used but obsolete term for the geologic period from 66 million to 2.6 million years ago. The period began with the demise of the non-avian dinosaurs in the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, at the start ...
and displaced '' M. motunauensis'', which formerly lived there. More recently, findings from
molecular phylogenetics Molecular phylogenetics () is the branch of phylogeny that analyzes genetic, hereditary molecular differences, predominantly in DNA sequences, to gain information on an organism's evolutionary relationships. From these analyses, it is possible to ...
suggest that ''M. challengeri'' has a basal position in the genus, possibly linked to '' M. neptunus'', and that the genus may have originated at high latitudes in the South Atlantic.


References


Further reading


''Report on the Crustacea Macrura collected by H.M.S. Challenger during the Years 1873–1876''
by C. Spence Bate {{Good article True lobsters Marine crustaceans of New Zealand Edible crustaceans Commercial crustaceans Crustaceans described in 1914 Taxa named by Heinrich Balss