''Nephrops'' is a genus 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 ...

s 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 William Elford Leach (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 apprenticesh ...

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

Cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

'', '' 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 genu ...

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

compound eye A compound eye is a Eye, visual organ found in arthropods such as insects and crustaceans. It may consist of thousands of ommatidium, ommatidia, which are tiny independent photoreception units that consist of a cornea, lens (anatomy), lens, and p ...

. Although the species in the 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 ...

'' 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 (geology), epoch in the geologic time scale that extends from 5.33 to 2.58Pleistocene The Pleistocene ( ; referred to colloquially as the ''ice age, Ice Age'') is the geological epoch (geology), epoch that lasted from to 11,700 years ago, spanning the Earth's most recent period of repeated glaciations. Before a change was fin ...

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

Oligocene The Oligocene ( ) is a geologic epoch (geology), epoch of the Paleogene Geologic time scale, Period that extends from about 33.9 million to 23 million years before the present ( to ). As with other older geologic periods, the rock beds that defin ...

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 143.1 to 66 mya (unit), million years ago (Mya). It is the third and final period of the Mesozoic Era (geology), Era, as well as the longest. At around 77.1 million years, it is the ...

, 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 period (from 201.6 to 28.4 Ma). Fos ...

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

References

{{Authority control 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