''Thymopides'' is a

genus Genus ( plural genera ) is a taxonomic rank used in the biological classification of living and fossil organisms as well as viruses. In the hierarchy of biological classification, genus comes above species and below family. In binomial n ...

of deep-water

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, ...

s, comprising the two species ''Thymopides grobovi'' and ''Thymopides laurentae''.

Distribution

Two species are included in the genus ''Thymopides''. *''Thymopides grobovi'' is found around

Heard Island The Territory of Heard Island and McDonald Islands (HIMI) is an Australian external territory comprising a volcanic group of mostly barren Antarctic islands, about two-thirds of the way from Madagascar to Antarctica. The group's overall size ...

and the

Kerguelen Archipelago The Kerguelen Islands ( or ; in French commonly ' but officially ', ), also known as the Desolation Islands (' in French), are a group of islands in the sub-Antarctic constituting one of the two exposed parts of the Kerguelen Plateau, a large ...

in the southern

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by ...

at depths of . *''Thymopides laurentae'' is only known from a single hydrothermal vent on the

Mid-Atlantic Ridge The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is a mid-ocean ridge (a divergent or constructive plate boundary) located along the floor of the Atlantic Ocean, and part of the longest mountain range in the world. In the North Atlantic, the ridge separates the North A ...

at a depth of ().

Description

''Thymopides'' differs from related genera such as ''

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 ...

'', ''

Homarinus The Cape lobster, ''Homarinus capensis'', is a species of small lobster that lives off the coast of South Africa, from Dassen Island to Haga Haga. Only a few dozen specimens are known, mostly regurgitated by reef-dwelling fish. It lives in rocky ...

'' and ''

Nephrops ''Nephrops'' is a genus of lobsters 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 in 1814, to accommodate ''N. norvegicus ...

'' in having the first pair of pereiopods of similar size and shape, rather than one "crusher" and one "cutter" claw. It differs from others, such as ''

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 s ...

'' and '' Eunephrops'' by the lack of a carina behind the antennal spine, by the smaller size of some spines and by the smaller, unpigmented eyes.

Taxonomy

The genus was first described by R. N. Burukovsky and B. S. Averin in 1976 under the name ''Bellator'', in a paper in the '' Russian Journal of Zoology'' (, '). After

Lipke Holthuis Lipke Bijdeley Holthuis (21 April 1921 – 7 March 2008) was a Dutch carcinologist, considered one of the "undisputed greats" of carcinology, and "the greatest carcinologist of our time". Holthuis was born in Probolinggo, East Java and obtained ...

informed the authors that a genus already existed called '' Bellator'', they published a

replacement name In biological nomenclature, a ''nomen novum'' ( Latin for "new name"), new replacement name (or replacement name, new substitute name, substitute name) is a scientific name that is created specifically to replace another scientific name, but only ...

in a paper in the journal ''

Crustaceana ''Crustaceana'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal specialising in carcinology. It was established in 1960 and is published monthly by Brill Publishers. The journal is abstracted and indexed by BIOSIS Previews, the Science Citation Index, ...

''. That new name was ''Thymopides'', referring to the close resemblance between the new genus and the genus ''

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 ...

''. The original genus name, ''Bellator'' derived from the

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

word ', meaning "

warrior A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste. History Warriors seem to have ...

". In 2003, a second species was described, ''T. laurentae'', commemorating Michèle de Saint Laurent.

References

External links

* {{Taxonbar, from=Q17986909 True lobsters