''Nephrops'' is a genus of lobsters comprising a single extant 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 Norway lobster or Dublin Bay prawn), and several fossil species. It was erected by

William Elford Leach William Elford Leach FRS (2 February 1791 – 25 August 1836) was an English zoologist and marine biologist. Life and work Elford Leach was born at Hoe Gate, Plymouth, the son of an attorney. At the age of twelve he began a medical appre ...

in 1814, to accommodate ''N. norvegicus'' alone, which had previously been placed in genera such as ''

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal b ...

'', '' Astacus'' or ''

Homarus ''Homarus'' is a genus of lobsters, which include the common and commercially significant species ''Homarus americanus'' (the American lobster) and ''Homarus gammarus'' (the European lobster). The Cape lobster, which was formerly in this genus ...

''. ''Nephrops'' means "kidney eye" and refers to the shape of the animal's

compound eye A compound eye is a visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens, and photoreceptor cells which disti ...

. Although the species in the genus '' Metanephrops'' were previously included in ''Nephrops'',

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 ...

suggests that the two genera are not

sister taxa In phylogenetics, a sister group or sister taxon, also called an adelphotaxon, comprises the closest relative(s) of another given unit in an evolutionary tree. Definition The expression is most easily illustrated by a cladogram: Taxon A and ...

, ''Nephrops'' being more closely related to ''

'' than either is to ''Metanephrops''. Most of the fossil species assigned to the genus ''Nephrops'' are known only from partial remains, and their affinities are not certain. They include: *''Nephrops reedi'' Carter, 1898 –

Pliocene The Pliocene ( ; also Pleiocene) is the epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.333 million to 2.58Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( , often referred to as the ''Ice age'') is the geological epoch that lasted from about 2,580,000 to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was finally confirmed in ...

, Panama *''Nephrops maoensis'' Rathbun, 1920 – Oligocene or

Miocene The Miocene ( ) is the first epoch (geology), geological epoch of the Neogene Period and extends from about (Ma). The Miocene was named by Scottish geologist Charles Lyell; the name comes from the Greek words (', "less") and (', "new") and mea ...

, Dominican Republic *''Nephrops aequus'' Rathbun, 1920 – Oligocene or Miocene, Dominican Republic *''Nephrops shastensis'' Rathbun, 1929 –

Cretaceous The Cretaceous ( ) is a geological period that lasted from about 145 to 66 million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era, as well as the longest. At around 79 million years, it is the longest geological period of ...

, California (possibly belongs in ''

Hoploparia ''Hoploparia'' is a genus of fossil lobster belonging to the family Nephropidae. The type species of this genus is ''Hoploparia longimana''. These epifaunal carnivores lived from the Jurassic to the Paleogene The Paleogene ( ; also spelled ...

'') *''Nephrops americanus'' Rathbun, 1935 – Cretaceous, Texas (not similar to ''Nephrops'' or ''Metanephrops'')

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q10336345 Decapod genera True lobsters Extant Cretaceous first appearances Early Cretaceous crustaceans Cretaceous California Late Cretaceous crustaceans Paleocene crustaceans Eocene crustaceans Oligocene crustaceans Miocene crustaceans Pliocene crustaceans Pleistocene crustaceans Cretaceous Texas Pliocene England Pleistocene Panama Oligocene Dominican Republic Miocene Dominican Republic Cretaceous arthropods of North America Pliocene arthropods of Europe Oligocene arthropods of North America Miocene arthropods of North America Pleistocene arthropods of North America Fossils of California Fossils of Texas Fossils of Panama Fossils of England Fossils of the Dominican Republic