''Nephropides caribaeus'' is a species of

lobster Lobsters are a family (Nephropidae, 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 have claws, including the first pair, ...

, 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 wa ...

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'' 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 und ...

length. It differs from ''Nephropsis'' in that the eyes contain pigment, which is lacking in ''Nephropsis''. The rostrum 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 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 with their large

chelae A chela ()also called a claw, nipper, or pinceris a 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 called chelipeds. ...

, 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. 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 c ...

'' 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 Type locality may refer to: * Type locality (biology) * Type locality (geology) See also * Local (disambiguation) * Locality (disambiguation) {{disambiguation ...

is at , off the coast of

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

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

specific epithet In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...

' is a reference to the Caribbean Sea.

References

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