''Belzebub'' is a genus of

prawn Prawn is a common name for small aquatic crustaceans with an exoskeleton An exoskeleton () . is a skeleton that is on the exterior of an animal in the form of hardened integument, which both supports the body's shape and protects the intern ...

s in the family Luciferidae. The species which make up the genus ''Belzebub'' were formerly placed in the genus ''

Lucifer The most common meaning for Lucifer in English is as a name for the Devil in Christian theology. He appeared in the King James Version of the Bible in Isaiah and before that in the Vulgate (the late-4th-century Latin translation of the Bib ...

'' but were separated to form ''Belzebub'' after a cladistic analysis. They are very small planktonic benthic prawns with an extreme lateral compression of the

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 ...

and elongated mandibles and anteriors of the

pereiopod The anatomy of a decapod consists of 20 body segments grouped into two main body parts: the cephalothorax and the pleon (abdomen). Each segment – often called a somite – may possess one pair of appendages, although in various groups these m ...

s, but lacking pereiopods 4 and 5 and any

gill A gill () is a respiration organ, respiratory organ that many aquatic ecosystem, aquatic organisms use to extract dissolved oxygen from water and to excrete carbon dioxide. The gills of some species, such as hermit crabs, have adapted to allow r ...

s. The pereiopods either lack chelae or they are substantially reduced. The sixth abdominal segment of males has two ventral processes and the

telson The telson () is the hindmost division of the body of an arthropod. Depending on the definition, the telson is either considered to be the final segment (biology), segment of the arthropod body, or an additional division that is not a true segm ...

has a strong ventral process.

Distinction from ''Lucifer''

''Belzebub'' is distinguished from the related ''Lucifer'' by having medium-length

eyestalk In anatomy, an eyestalk (sometimes spelled eye stalk and also known as an ommatophore) is a protrusion that extends an eye away from the body, giving the eye a better field of view. It is a common feature in nature and frequently appears in fict ...

s and by both sexes having similar eyes; in the species in ''Lucifer'' there is

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where sexes of the same species exhibit different Morphology (biology), morphological characteristics, including characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most dioecy, di ...

in the size of the eyes. In addition, the ventral process of the two on the male's sixth segment is straight and tapering rather than curved and obtuse.

Etymology

The generic name ''Belzebub'' is derived from an older English version of the biblical

Beelzebub Ba'al Zabub , Ba'al Zvuv or Beelzebub ( ; ''Baʿal-zəḇūḇ''), also spelled Beelzebul or Belzebuth, and occasionally known as the Lord of the Flies, is a name derived from a Philistine god, formerly worshipped in Ekron, and later adopted ...

; the authors of the name used this version as it was shorter than others. They chose it because it is an alternative name for the devil, who is also referred to as

, although in the case of the genus ''Lucifer'' the name, which literally means "light bearer" in Latin, refers to the

bioluminescence Bioluminescence is the emission of light during a chemiluminescence reaction by living organisms. Bioluminescence occurs in multifarious organisms ranging from marine vertebrates and invertebrates, as well as in some Fungus, fungi, microorgani ...

produced by the prawns in that genus.

Species

There are 5 species which make up the genus ''Belzebub'': * '' Belzebub chacei'' (Bowman, 1967) - east coast of South Africa and Madagascar east to Hawaii. * '' Belzebub faxoni'' (Borradaile, 1915) - Western Atlantic from Long Island Sound south to Rio de Janeiro, also recorded off West Africa. * '' Belzebub hanseni'' (Nobili, 1905) - from Madagascar and the Red Sea, east to the South China Sea and the South Pacific including Tasmania. It has also now been reported in the Mediterranean, probably as a Lessepsian migrant through the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

. * '' Belzebub intermedius'' (Hansen, 1919) - from the Gulf of Oman east to Japan. * '' Belzebub penicillifer'' (Hansen, 1919) - Indian Ocean, east to the Philippines and northern Australia.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q28432843 Dendrobranchiata Beelzebub Decapod genera