''Nephropides caribaeus'' is a species of

lobster Lobsters are Malacostraca, malacostracans Decapoda, decapod crustaceans of the family (biology), family Nephropidae or its Synonym (taxonomy), synonym Homaridae. They have long bodies with muscular tails and live in crevices or burrows on th ...

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

Caribbean Sea The Caribbean Sea is a sea of the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean in the tropics of the Western Hemisphere, located south of the Gulf of Mexico and southwest of the Sargasso Sea. It is bounded by the Greater Antilles to the north from Cuba ...

, from

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern 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 maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

Colombia Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country primarily located in South America with Insular region of Colombia, insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuel ...

. 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 projectio ...

Description

''Nephropides caribaeus'' is a narrow lobster, resembling '' Nephropsis'' or '' Nephrops''. Adults of ''N. caribaeus'' are typically in total length, or in

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. 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 ** podium * 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 ...

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

s, including the first

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 with their large

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

, and the other, smaller pereiopods.

Distribution and ecology

''Nephropides caribaeus'' is found in the western

, and has been recorded from

. 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. 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) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and improve nutrition and food security. Its Latin motto, , translates ...

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 geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...

, at a depth of . The generic name ''Nephropides'' alludes to a close relationship with the genus '' Nephrops'', while the

specific epithet In Taxonomy (biology), taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, both of which use Latin gramm ...

' is a reference to the Caribbean Sea.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q16893943, from2=Q992239 True lobsters Monotypic decapod genera Crustaceans of the Atlantic Ocean Taxa named by Raymond B. Manning